At the Devil's Mercy
by drunkdragon
Summary: Go ahead. Do it. Call me evil. I love it when people call me evil, when they realize that I'm worse than just a mere human. It makes my heart race, my blood boil, and I love it when they put up a fight... x Continuation of "Red" x
1. Prologue

Prologue

July 12, 2010

I'm not one to write journals or diaries. I don't read them over and I don't enjoy writing very much. The only reason why I'm doing one is because you, the psychologist, say that I will do one to have a better grasp at what could be causing my insomnia by writing down anything I feel is important.

It started about two to three weeks ago. At first, it only happened a few times. I would stay up doing homework, studying, playing games, and counting sheep for one night, and I would be sound asleep on the next one. It was alright at first, as I could use the extra time get some work done. But it became more and more frequent to the point that it's every other day now. I started with the school nurse, and when she couldn't find anything out she recommended me to you, a psychologist. Now I have to visit you every two weeks. And of course, I still have to attend school, although summer break is about to start.

My dad's not too happy about it either, although it's not like he's about to withhold payments for the shrink. He would just rather not have to.

July 14, 2010

I noticed that my last few dreams have had me running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the middle of the night at an alarming speed. It's an exhilarating experience, to see cars and people as mere pinpricks on the asphalt and concrete as I soar above them. I don't know what the dreams mean, but I know that it feels real. The wind blows past me as I make the jumps. It's a pure adrenaline rush that nothing can match.

I guess this journal will be focusing on what I dream about. I will write on the days after I fall asleep. So the next entry should be the sixteenth, meaning I fell asleep on the fifteenth. That is, of course, if it follows the pattern.

July 16, 2010

My dreams have changed, or at least for the one last night. Instead of leaping across the night sky, I've begun to inflict bodily harm on myself. It started with cuts. Surprisingly, it hurt, considering how it was a dream. I suppose the theory about pinching your cheeks to wake yourself up from dreams doesn't hold any water.

What confuses me though is that it took a lot of effort to inflict the cuts. I couldn't just drag a razor lightly over my arm. I had to take a knife and forcefully slice into myself. Even then, I couldn't go very deep, or I chose not to. There wasn't very much blood because the cut was shallow.

Afterwards, I took a lighter from my desk and put my hand in its flame. It was hot, but when I took the hand away, I could see no signs of a burn. Not even the small hairs on my arm were singed. When I awoke, my arms looked perfectly fine. It was very strange, indeed.

Thank god I'll be able to sleep on the night after this one, according to the schedule. It's going to be busy on the day after and I'd rather be prepared for it.

July 19, 2010

Surprisingly, I fell asleep last night. Perhaps it was the pain that my upper back had to go through that made me tired, but getting two nights of sleep was definitely comfortable. However, what I dreamed about was disturbing. Taniguchi-sempai was in it. He was heavily injured, bleeding and screaming while on a staircase of sorts, all while looking at me as if I was some hideous monster. I woke up shortly afterwards though, as if my mind had shut out the rest of the event.

I don't know when I'll sleep again. I feel more rested than before though, which is good because this evening will be busy as well. I just need to push aside what I saw last night.

July 21, 2010

Summer break starts today, and my dad has begun filling out the papers for transferring to Kouyouen High School. I can only assume that the reason why the transfer is necessary is business related. Still, I'll be far away soon, so you! Psychologist-san! I hope you have something to tell me after I do all of this journal writing and such.

As for strange dreams, I feel that they are getting weirder and weirder. I was searching names on the internet. I don't recall who they were, but I feel that if I saw the names that I looked up I would recognize them immediately. I don't even know if I was successful at finding the people. At the very least, however, it could be said that the dreams are nonsense, which is what most dreams chalk up to anyway.

June 23, 2010

Last night, I dreamed that I was walking out on the streets at night and looking for someone. Eventually I stopped in front of a homeless man who was sleeping in the end of an alley against a dumpster. I slowly took out the knife I was hiding, held his mouth closed, and stabbed his heart. His eyes opened, but it was momentary and he was lifeless in moments.

I don't know why I dreamed that, but the fact that all of my dreams in the past few days have felt real has made me worry. I can understand that when you dream, chances are you don't realize you're dreaming until you feel the warmth beneath the covers on your bed. You play along with whatever your brain has decided to hypnotize you with for the night and when you wake up, it's simply over. Your brain is done playing tricks with you for the time being because if it didn't stop then you'd be, to put it lightly, in trouble.

I don't know what happened after that. Did I just walk away? Did I hide the body? My dreams are leaving me with questions that I'd rather not face.

June 25, 2010

I dreamed again. There didn't seem to be anything violent or extreme. No one died, no jumping from rooftop to rooftop at breakneck speeds, no self-inflicted wounds.

But everything was in some shade of blue. As I walked the streets at night, the few people I passed were more of a golden color. It's not heat-based. Otherwise I would have seen the streetlights appear white. It was strange, as if I was looking through a pair of sunglasses with a dark blue tint.

Speaking of sunglasses, it was night time, and yet even with the blue hue, I could still see things clearly. One would think that wearing sunglasses at night would reduce visibility, but that was not the case here.

I'm starting to become afraid of falling asleep. While this night may have been a reprieve in regards to the strange ones, I cannot help but feel that they are all adding up to something, something that I am not going to like.

I feel like I'm slowly beginning to lose my sense of reality. After a night of no sleep, everything looks surreal in the morning sunlight, as if space is distorting itself in front of me. But every time I lean in to take a closer look, it seems fine. Could this be the first sign of madness? I feel like I'm living some sort of double life. One night, I am me, but another night I'm not me. But how do I tell which is which? The boundary is beginning to blur in my tired eyes.

June 27, 2010

This may be the last time I write in this journal. I have seen something in my dreams, and it is something that I cannot bring myself to avoid.

I saw my hands writing in another journal, similar to the one you gave me. I did not get to see everything I wrote down, as much of the page I was viewing was already written. I paused in the writing and reached for a glass of… something, it was red. But when I drank it, it was sweet, not like juice but like sweetened milk. Smooth, and not very strong. I daresay that it was delicious.

I then glanced down back at the journal and watched my hands write out "Find this book, and you'll know what's going on." Then I closed the journal, stood up, and put it away at the far end of my bookshelf, tucked between two textbooks.

As I am writing this to you, I am staring, with beads of cold sweat forming on my brow, at the very journal I wrote in my dreams. I want to open it. I want to open it so badly, even if there are terrible consequences to be had. I must know what is going on. It is the insatiability of humanity's need to know. Pandora's box, to use a common idea. The gods told her not to open it, and in the end she did, for curiosity had gotten the better of her.

I tried to reach you several times by your office phone, but it would appear that you were busy today. I was going to ask you for help on the matter, but because of your unavailability, I feel that I have succumbed to my own weakness. I do not blame you for it, for one cannot be available all the time. However, I merely want you to know now that this is of my own volition. I want to see what's written in that journal. What happens afterwards is unpredictable, but this fear of what is written also has made me obsessed with the object.

I must have it. I must know.

* * *

Somewhere, somehow, at some place, and at some time in that improperly lit world with the azure giants and Haruhi, I accepted that I was inhuman.

As the blue hand fell down upon me, I felt myself being ripped into pieces down to the cellular level and my psyche torn asunder and divided into factions of its own self before being transported to another world, another dimension. My grip on Haruhi was fleeting as I felt her weight dissolve from my hands. No doubt that the same had happened to her. Soon everything was dark.

When I finally awoke, it was night time. I changed out of my sleeping clothes and put on some jeans and a shirt and jacket to explore the new world I was in, making sure to memorize where my own home was located. As I was out in the darkness, however, I realized that my vampire senses were about me. I quickly climbed to the roof of an abandoned building and began to leap from rooftop to rooftop, covering distances impossible by human standards.

But eventually I grew tired. I returned to my home and rested. When I awoke again, I did the same thing, testing the strength of my body to see just what I could do. But soon I realized something. When I feel asleep after a night of running, I did not wake on the next day, but instead almost a week later. Something was not right. My true self was locked away by my mind. I can only guess that when I spliced with myself on this plane of existence, my thoughts of rejecting my own blood had won, perhaps due to the similarities between this dimension's Kyon and my initial thoughts of my vampirism. At first I was enraged. Despite my own self-acceptance, the true me was moved out of sight from my mind.

But I had broken free from the cage. I began to think of a way out. I started off with questionable activities. I stopped running around and started to examine other parts of my body, particularly limits of pain and how much I could take before I became seriously injured. I did research on people that I knew and killed a homeless man to feed on. Nothing worked until I realized that if I could somehow remind the other self of what I really am, it would help me regain control of myself. I wrote an entry, telling myself who I really was and putting it in a place where I could easily see it from my desk chair.

It worked perfectly. Upon seeing the book on the shelf, his curiosity to solve this mystery claimed him. Upon reading the entry, my counterpart fainted and the two psyches clashed. I took over completely, gaining the memories of my other self.

It's night time now. I'm behind my house and I'm holding my lighter. I turn it on and put both journals over the flame, watching it burn away the evidence that the Kyon everyone knew no longer exists.

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to send a call to the psychologist, though. After regaining control of myself, I spent all day examining my lifestyle and relations in this world.

I am the shadow that I tried to suppress, to pretend that this side of me didn't exist. But this is my true self. Anything that has a connection with how my old self acted and thought I banished. Nothing will stand in my way to turn this world into what I want it to be.


	2. Chapter 1

Hello again, everyone. Here is the next chapter for this story. I've decided to do the same thing as last time: write one chapter ahead of the updates. I sort of don't like it though, so it may change at some point through the story.

More notes at the bottom of the chapter.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

Onward!

* * *

Chapter One

Asking someone how long they've believed in Santa Claus has to be the most retarded question ever. I think I can confidently say that those who did believe in him are idiots. Me? I never believed in a fat ass in a red suit riding in some ugly sleigh in the first place. When I first saw him as a kid, I almost puked on that guy because he was so damn ugly. And thank god I didn't have to see him kissing my mom. That would be disgusting.

* * *

I'm walking with Taniguchi up the slope of the road to get to our new high school. It's close to the location of the school I originally went to before I warped into this dimension, but we take a right somewhere along this road. We're dressed in black uniforms. Or so we normally would be. Since it's only early September, we're in our summer outfits. The boys don't wear the top. Instead, we just wear a white button up shirt with a collar and the school crest on the sleeves, which go just up to the elbow. Pants are more or less the same though. Pants are pants, anyway. They're not going to change anytime soon if you ask me.

As the both of us walk to the school, I can feel the stares of the other students on the both of us. We're recent transfers, so we have to arrive earlier. We stick out among the group because no one has ever seen the two of us before.

Not to mention that Taniguchi has left his uniform unbuttoned. He's wearing a white t-shirt underneath it, but even then the other students can't help but stare.

"Sempai, if you don't button up your shirt, everyone is going to think that you're a delinquent."

"Me? Be grouped with them? They don't even know the meaning of delinquent. If anything, we'd show them what it means to be one." Of course, he waves it off. He's got a penchant for wearing his feelings on his sleeve. Still, he begins to button up his top.

"I'd rather not get into a fight on the first day of the term. Besides, don't forget that-"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember."

I remember killing this fool. Accidental and out of my control, but sometimes I wish it happened in this world. Even though I thought to myself that Taniguchi was obviously alive, it was still a surprise when I first saw him. He looks exactly the same, but his personality is a bit different. I'm thinking that everyone that I knew in the old world is different here, although maybe not too different. The city I'm in is almost exactly the same as the old one except for a few details.

We finally arrive at the school. I ask for some directions and eventually we're lead to the principal's office. He does his usual speech about integrity, morality, and how this high school is the epitome of it all. Then two class representatives escort us to our respective classes.

"Sorry Kyon, but it looks like you've got the guy." He's already planning to try and make some moves on the girl that's leading him to class. Not that I care though.

"It's only the first day. Don't get slapped too hard." Or too many times, for that matter. He's always had a thing for trying to pick up girls. His success has, from what I recall, been various. But I do know that he's beat me in terms of losing his membership.

"Man, Kyon, you've got to man up one day. You have to start looking for girls now because you're not getting any prettier. I mean, you look nice. With a little more effort, you could be a lady killer yourself one day. But every time you don't act on it, you're running out of chances."

This isn't the first time he's told me about this.

"Look, do me a favor and try to at least get a girlfriend this term, okay? We'll talk about more about it later."

But in reality, it's not that I'm too lazy or that I don't want to. It's just that I already have my goal set.

I plan to eventually become Suzumiya Haruhi's boyfriend. I've done it once, I'm sure I can do it again. This time, however, I'll be starting from scratch. As for finding her, that's easy, as I've already done some research and found out that she attends this school.

That's part of the reason why Taniguchi and I transferred here. The other part is that-

"Well, this is our classroom." The boy turns around and opens the door for me. Class is about to start, and the teacher is already at the front of the room.

"Ah, welcome." He's got wrinkles and is beginning to lose a bit of his hair. "You must be the new transfer."

Better suck it up. "It's an honor to be here."

"It's uncommon for second years to be transferred to a new high school, especially so late in the school year. Still, I believe you will do well." He smiles a bit. "There's a seat by the window in the back. You can use that spot for now until we have an official seat change later today."

I thank the man and head over to sit down. After that, he began his lecture. It wasn't that much different than any other high school. I find that my mind begins to wander.

The me before I took over was almost a completely different person. Even I find it a bit hard to believe myself. I was quiet and didn't talk very much. In fact, the only one that I was really open with was Taniguchi. I had to convince my 'father' into thinking that I wanted to try to be more outgoing when I started to speak up more often.

Speaking of family, the situation is different as well. My father in the old world is still my father here. I still have a younger half sister. However, instead of her not having my father's lineage, she is born from a different mother. At some point in time, my mother died and my father remarried.

Also, no one else in my family is a vampire. It's only me. I feel relieved in that I don't have anyone to hold me to any values, but at the same time I don't have anyone to really guide me. Still, I feel like I'll like this world much better than the old one.

Lecture ends. I didn't exactly know when it happened, but I stopped paying attention in lecture. I suppose I'm too busy wondering just how Haruhi and I will meet up in this world. Will she even recognize me? And if the way she entered this world is similar to how I entered it, will she have broken free of the chains her mind has bound her with? Although I believe that she is held down by weights much more different than mine.

"Hey!" a light pat to my shoulders rouses me from my thoughts. It's Taniguchi again. "It's not like you to be staring off into the distance. Did you see a girl you like?"

"If I happen to hit it off with a girl, I'm sure I'd do my best to keep it a secret from you." I rise from my seat. "After all, I would like to keep her for myself. I would prefer to avoid letting you… borrow her without my permission."

"Come on," he laughs, "I may be a lady's man, but I've got decency. I'm not one to go around stealing another guy's girl, especially yours. I think the term was 'crows before toes'."

"It's 'bros before hos', sempai." And you say that English like a second language to you.

"It's the thought that counts. Now come on, let's get something to eat."

I notice that his top has become unbuttoned again, revealing his white shirt beneath it. "You've unbuttoned your shirt again, sempai."

"It's too hot. I don't understand how all the other guys can handle it." We travel through the hall and down some stairs until we're on the bottom floor. Before we can leave the building to go to the cafeteria, however, someone calls out to us.

"Hey, transfer student."

It's someone I know, but it's not the person I am looking for. I turn around to see the one person I hoped to never see again.

Asakura Ryoko. Of course, it makes sense that she would exist, as a human. After all, Taniguchi is alive in this world despite the fact that I killed him in the old one. However, is she still an alien? I would imagine that the Data Thought Entity would still try to pursue Haruhi. Even then, though, didn't Nagato herself say that they exist as one in all planes of existence?

Wouldn't that mean that since Asakura Ryoko died, she should not exist here? But then who is the one who is talking to me now?

I ignore her, pretending to not have heard her call me. I turn away from her to leave, but Taniguchi grabs me by the arm.

"Come on now, Kyon. It's impolite to refuse such a beautiful girl's invitation." Women will be the death of you, Taniguchi. I follow him, but I can't help but be suspicious of what's happening. As we approach, however, her hand flies up to her mouth and she begins to blush.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I only meant to call out to my classmate." Classmate? She must be talking about Taniguchi, as if she were in my class I'm sure I would have realized it in the first place. Her exuberant blue hair is a dead giveaway, similar to how Nagato's light purple hair lets me know that an alien is about. Or was.

"Sorry, Kyon," he offers me his condolences before heading over to her. "I meant to talk more with you about what I said earlier, but it'll have to wait."

Don't get too caught up in yourself. "Don't worry about me. Just have fun. There will be another time to talk later."

I begin to walk towards the cafeteria and constantly scanning the crowd. I might see someone I recognize. But even then, I can't just bring myself to go up and say hello to them. I know who they are, but they won't know who I am. Not to mention that they would not have repressed memories of where I come from. The only person who does is Haruhi.

Come to think of it, would I recognize her? What if her scent has changed? Then what will I do? My best chance is to awaken her repressed memories. As I purchase my meal, various thoughts fly about my head on how to do so. I doubt that it would be like a fairy tale, where I can simply kiss her and she will remember. Also, it could take a long time for her memories to return.

Classes will be starting soon. I don't know whether Taniguchi had something to eat or not, so I purchase some baked goods for him and begin to search for him. I take a deep breath and easily pick up his scent. I begin to head up the stairs, but as I arrive on the next floor, I run into Asakura again.

"Oh, it's the other transfer student," she speaks with a harried smile. "Funny that we would meet each other again."

Funny my ass. "I'm looking for my friend, Taniguchi. I was going to bring him some food as I don't think he's had the opportunity to eat something yet."

"Him? Well, last I saw him, he…" her voice drops a bit, "some other students jumped him."

It is only the first day. "What? And you didn't tell anyone?"

"W-Well, it just happened though!" she stamps her foot.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't report it."

"But classes are about to start! Besides, I was trying to be nice earlier, but he almost couldn't keep himself off of me. I'm…" her voice falls a bit, "I'm kind of glad that he got jumped."

"Where did it happen?" I suppose I should bail him out. I don't think she wants to tell the teachers about the situation either.

"It was near the first floor staircase on the west side. Be quick. Even if I don't really like him that much, I would still feel bad if something were to happen to him."

"Right. I'll see you around, then." I begin to head up the stairs again.

"Wait!" I turn around to see her smiling at me again, this time a more natural one. "I'm Asakura Ryoko. It's nice to meet you."

Act like you don't hate the lying bitch. "Call me Kyon. I'd say that it's nice to meet you to, but I have to hurry and try to help my friend." She waves a small goodbye and heads in the other direction.

So, stairs huh? I start to pick up Taniguchi's scent again. At the very least she was right about some stairs. He was not at the first floor's west staircase, though. In fact, his scent leads me to the third floor's main staircase. However, why would Taniguchi be on the third floor? While he may not be afraid to go wherever he wants, society dictates it to be very unusual for a second year to be on the third year's floor. Given the situation and how he unbuttoned his shirt, he could have been targeted by some rambunctious upperclassmen.

I have the feeling that Asakura had a hand in this little trick.

His scent leads to the roof. If he did get jumped, then he probably would have been taken up to the roof to try and keep it away from the teachers' eyes.

Well, it's not like they'll kill him. Scaring him is probably closer to their goal. He'll be fine.

Besides, I'm trying to keep a low profile. If I found him too easily, I would fall under suspicion. Sorry, Taniguchi, but you'll just have to hang in there.

I begin to make my way back down the stairs. I'll just have to hold on to the food I bought and give it to him later. Besides, class will be starting soon. I'd rather not be late.

* * *

We're on the school roof, sitting against the railing. Class has ended and most of the students have gone home. Turns out I was right to guess that Taniguchi was up here somewhere. However, I was unable to get here until now. To say that Taniguchi was starving could be an understatement.

"Oi, Kyon, you got a light?"

I reach into my pants pocket and pull out my lighter. I spin it around my fingers a few times before taking a hold of it at an arm's length. I turn the spark wheel and a small orange flicker of flame stands on top. "You really should stop smoking, sempai. And why do you always ask me if I have a light?"

Taniguchi moves the cigarette butt over the flame before taking puff. "I like how you spin it a few times before you actually turn it on. It looks cool. I can only spin a pencil." He's got a few cuts and bruises on his face and he might have a few more underneath his clothes. There is also one particularly long gash running along his cheek. Beyond that though, he looks to be in okay condition.

"So, back to the real issue. What happened up here?"

"Well," he takes another breath from his cigarette, "I got jumped somewhere next to the third floor staircase. Then I was dragged up here."

"So they beat you up or something? Is that it?"

"Beat me up? Hardly." He spits towards his side away from me. "The boys don't even know what a fight is. They're just swinging fists, nothing more. It would be a shame for me to lose to such amateurs."

"So then how did you end up like this?"

"Tch, there was this bitch with ribbons in her hair."

Ribbons?

"She's fast and her punches are like a train. She might have even had a ring on, because she gave me this cut here." He points to the long line of dried blood across his left cheek. "She kind of just came out of nowhere. That or it's because she was a girl that I was caught unaware."

"That's going to leave a scar, wont it?"

"A scar? Hmph, come on, Kyon. You can't be a respected Yakuza leader without one. I would have gotten one sooner or later."

Ah, right. Yakuza. It surprised me that there could be such great differences between the same people in separate dimensions. Taniguchi, who is still my friend in this world, is the son a fairly influential Yakuza boss. He's older than me by only a few months, but I must still show respect to him. As for me, my family isn't made up of vampires, for the matter, but my father is the boss' close friend and second-in-command.

As a result, it could be said that my friendship with Taniguchi in this world was potentially superficial. I don't know what the other me was planning before, but now I have control over the situation. I would be lying if I said that I was disappointed at my new life. I have a powerful link to the Underworld, where I can operate under a veil should it be necessary. However, a part of me hoped that I would have a more peaceful life, maybe try to do what my old father did.

Another part of me is anxious to see what this new world holds for me. "What happened after that?"

"Essentially, they held me down and beat me up a bit. Nothing that I'm not used to. School kids don't know what it really means to terrorize anyway."

Even though I've only been in this world for a few months, I've already seen countless things that only a Yakuza member should see. At the very least, it could be said that there will be no shortage of blood for me to drink.

"Man, that girl was hot though."

"The one that met us in the hallway?"

"Well, her too, but I'm talking about the ribbons bitch." He takes another drag. "If she didn't punch me, I'm sure I would have tried to pick her up, too."

This could be dangerous. "What do you propose to do then?"

"Well, maybe give her a taste of her own medicine. It might not look good to hit girls, but I have to show my thanks for the scar in some way, right?" He sighs. "Still, it will be a shame to cut up that face of hers."

"That may be going too far. It would be best to avoid life-changing consequences."

"True…"

"And how do you expect to find her anyway? You don't even know her name."

"Criminals have a penchant to return to the scene of the crime, Kyon. I suspect that sooner or later she'll come back up here. We'll just have to find out when." He stands up and stretches. "Well, we should be heading back. I have to think of a suitable way to repay the girl."

"Sempai, you're not even going to find out what her connections are?" I stand up as well.

"It will become clear soon enough. I'll do some digging if I have to, though." He tosses the cigarette onto the ground and stamps it out. "And I keep telling you, you don't have to call me sempai."

"It feels weird to not say it, though." I would love to stop calling you sempai. Still, it's better to lie through my teeth.

"Then don't do it when others are around then. Like you said before, we have to keep a low profile. Someone who's barely younger than me referring to me as sempai is a bit unusual, no?"

I stand up and follow him back down the stairs. Taniguchi didn't mention her, but I'm sure that Asakura has some sort of hand in all of this. He may be too smitten with her to realize this, but I'm not about to lie down and let her walk over me. She's tried to kill me before and it was only thanks to Nagato that I survived.

Speaking of Nagato, I'm reminded of a good excuse to leave. "Taniguchi, I'm going to check out some of the clubs around here. Maybe there's something we can pick up from there."

He gives a nod and lets me leave for now. "We'll talk later then." Once he's out of sight, I turn around and head back up to the roof.

Ever since he mentioned the name 'bitch with ribbons', I've wanted to search the rooftop. When I was there earlier, I could see spots of dried blood. Most of it was not Taniguchi's, most of it belonged to others. But if he's right, if Haruhi really was on the rooftop, then that would mean I'm one step closer to finding her.

I almost ram the door open and stumble onto the open roof. It's empty, devoid of life. I calm myself and take a deep breath and close my eyes.

The first thing I notice is that there are almost no scents left. Most of it has died off, having been scattered by the wind. It's not enough to make a solid guess that she was up here.

I start to examine the scene. I'm not looking for something that she may have dropped. That's too hopeful, although it's not something I would rule out. Instead, I'm looking for signs of wear in the area, signs that a person or a group of people frequent the area. I take a look around the structure that holds the entrance back down into the school. Not only would it tell me that someone comes here often, but the scent left behind is potentially stronger.

To my chagrin, however, it looks like the roof was repainted during the summer. The coat on the wall and railings has a sheen that's unlike old buildings. Any evidence of someone frequenting a particular spot on the rooftop has been erased.

What about on top of the entrance? Making sure that no one is around, I crouch down before pushing against the floor. For a moment, I'm weightless before I start to move down, landing on the ledge surrounding the top. My eyes begin to search the area, and it's not long before I find something.

Cigarette butts, lots of them, the first clue. However, I find it highly unusual that the entire roof would be repainted save this part. Regardless, this leads to several conclusions: someone smokes them and tosses the bits up here, someone actually smokes on the top of this place, or multiple people are doing either one. There is also a damp spot in the center of the area, meaning that the drains in this part are not very good.

It also means that water could easily have stained what's left behind. Thankfully, there are a few recently used ones. Judging by the amount, it would have to have been a group of people smoking in the area. That means that multiple people must have known that this girl with ribbons was here. How to find them, however, is the difficult part. There isn't much of a scent to pick up around here and remember.

I hate to admit it, but this is getting nowhere. I climb down from the ledge and begin to head for the exit. The only real information I have right now is that there are multiple people involved and Asakura Ryoko is one of them. Taniguchi's information about getting jumped and fighting multiple students checks out with the amount of cigarette butts. Also, Asakura is put under suspicion because of her lie. I can't help but feel that there is some sort of underlying connection between the two of them. After that though, there isn't anything else for now.

It looks like, despite the prestige of the school, it has a few problems of its own. Given the mission Taniguchi and I were tasked with perhaps there is a way for us to turn it to our advantage. Still, I would prefer to find Haruhi first.

But even then, it looks like she's not necessarily on the same side as me this time, if one could even call it a side in the first place. Being dragged into the SOS Brigade was definitely not what I originally hoped to be involved with in my first year. If I were given a choice in the beginning, I would have done everything I could to avoid the group entirely. Maybe that's the reason why she was so adamant to have me 'help her'. She knew that I would put up a fight until the very end and instead roped me into providing a helping hand in its creation.

As I finally leave the school, I'm sure that there are a few people watching my actions. The fact that I'm friends with their first 'target' puts me under their prying eyes as well. In fact, with Taniguchi's idea of extracting revenge, I would not be surprised that if word of it got out, the both of us would run out of the school. Or not. God knows that won't work.

Considering what we were sent out to do, failure isn't an option we are willing to tolerate. Unless, of course, we are able to manipulate this failure to achieve our goal. Either way works. It's the end result that matters.

My thoughts go back to Haruhi.

Dear god, I hope she doesn't smoke. Most men won't care, but I find it to be a huge turn off.

* * *

Oh boy, where to begin? You know, the entirely new world Kyon is thrust into is sort of a mix between a bunch of 'what if's, thinking big, and a written assignment for one of my classes. At first, I wanted to make new world very, very different. I initially had plans for post-apocalyptic humans versus vampires setting with time traveling somewhere in it, but while I put in a lot of thought, outcome felt lacking. The next idea I worked with was radically changing the character backgrounds. It was easier to do in that I didn't have to plan out the entire setting.

And then I realized that I have never really written a story about criminals before. The idea was enticing, as I wanted to write an actual novel revolving around a detective. But I couldn't just do a gang, so I thought about putting them in the Yakuza. And then that written assignment came along. We were to write about an institution and how it relates to what we were discussing in class. We were allowed to write about whatever topic we wanted as long as it was an institution and I saw it as an opportunity to do research on the Yakuza as a criminal organization.

And that is why Kyon is a Yakuza member.

There is also the fact that he is in a secondary role compared to Taniguchi within the Yakuza. This felt almost natural, as it would emulate how Haruhi put him in a secondary position. Putting him as the top dog felt out of place, as well as cliche.

As for his morality, I do admit that I may have made it bigger than I may have wanted to in hindsight, but it's something addressed in the upcoming chapter. He'll still be a bit evil, though, or I would like to try to portray him as such. That is something I do not want to toss out.


	3. Chapter 2

Hello again, everyone. It's a little later than I had hoped, but it's here now. I had planned to update during my spring break, but I guess I got a bit lazy there.

Gladiator Beast MCK: That's actually something I would like to avoid as well.

inuzuka pau: The world may never know.

Silencian: It's never said, nor is there much proof, that Kyon was not a vampire to begin with. In fact, in "Red", one of the chapters has evidence that goes against your idea that Haruhi caused him to become a vampire.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onwards!

* * *

Chapter 2

I had just gotten used to the daily grind of going to school, and I already hate it. It's all so pointless, like that that Greek guy, I forget his name. Sissyfoot? Anyway, the way school works is almost silly. They award 'points', which magically add up to give you a high 'score', which gets you into college, where it repeats again. It's not about the smarts; it's about the network and who you're related to.

I just happen to have the wrong network. I'm somehow lumped up with this girl who has a thing for pulling me around by the back of my uniform and necktie. Oh, and she wants to find aliens, time travelers, and espers. God, who does this bitch think she is?

She's got a hot body, though.

* * *

"Man, Kyon, this apartment is so shabby compared to what we have at home."

"Everything is shabby compared to home, but it would be strange for two teenagers to be living in a grand apartment, no? What if were assigned a group project?"

The apartment is small. The largest room has several arranged tatami mats for the floor and a small sliding window. A portion in front of it has wood flooring and it leads to the entrance, a small kitchen, and a small bathroom. Definitely made for one person, although two could still live comfortably in here. There are some closets to the side of the big room, which holds my futon, among other things. On the other side is a drawer with my clothes.

I put the table out for now to do my homework on, but Taniguchi insisted on discussing the plan for revenge with me. I tried to get him to do his work as well, but he can't seem to start it, so he just sits across from me. Even then, I don't think that we will be able to put our plan into action until later. I'll just have to keep him from doing something irrational or dangerous. I must intervene if he decides to go too far.

"Tell me what she looked like, sempai." I wonder why I didn't just ask him this question in the first place. It would have saved me time and a few hairs on my head.

Can vampires become bald, though?

"Ugh, that may be tough. I'm no good at remembering a face that I only saw once. You know how it is, Kyon. Witnesses often have trouble creating facial images from the scene of the crime. I saw her up once on the rooftop during the fight, but I didn't see her again until her fist was about to hit me."

"How about striking features then? Anything that stood out?"

"Hmm… she's got long hair. It must go down to her ass. She's got to have a ring, too. Otherwise she wouldn't have given me a cut. And her eyes were a golden yellow."

Well, the eyes match. I begin to imagine Haruhi with long, long hair. I don't know whether I prefer her with long hair or short. True, long hair is better suited for a ponytail, but if it's so long that it reaches her butt, I don't think it would fit the style. And when did Haruhi start wearing a ring?

"What about the ribbons? You keep calling her by that nickname, after all." You can refer to her as the bitch with ribbons all you want, Taniguchi, but you won't be hearing it from me.

"Hm… I think she had four of them. They were wrapping around some strands of hair."

Quite eccentric. I'm reminded of when I first met her and she kept changing her hairstyle as the days went on. "If her hairstyle stood out that much, wouldn't she be easily recognizable? And wouldn't there be some possible problems with the staff?"

"Yeah, her hair is a bit outrageous. She probably gets up early just to do those ribbons."

An idea begins to formulate in my mind. I set my pencil down. Taniguchi turns to look at me, as if he knows that I've come up with a plan.

"Sempai, do you have a pair of scissors? A fairly large one, perhaps?"

"Scissors?"

"This girl sounds like she spends a lot of time on her hair." I almost can't believe that I'm suggesting this. "How about we cut it off?"

He smiles. "Sounds good to me."

It would be impossible to implement the idea the next day. We don't know who the person exactly is, nor do we have a method to single her out. As Taniguchi said before, criminals often return to the scene of the crime. If we head to the roof during lunch, then chances are we would find the girl. But that would only get us into more trouble and into another fight.

Perhaps Taniguchi would prefer a fight. As for me, I've never been in one before, both in this world and in my own. At the very least, I'll be able to dodge and land some powerful hits due to my vampiric nature. The group may not recognize me though, so perhaps it would be possible for me to go to the rooftop and scout around.

Taniguchi stretches, shifting his hand to cover his open mouth as he yawns.

"Tired so soon, sempai?" I pick up my pencil and finish the last problem on my math assignment. "You've barely started your homework."

"You'd be tired too if you got into a fight." I suppose I'll give him that much. "Besides, this isn't due until the day after. I'll finish it later." He gathers his work and haphazardly slides it into his school bag. As he gets up, I rise to my feet and walk him to the door. I then turn and bow to him, "Good night, sempai."

"I've told you before. You don't have to do this," he says in an exasperated voice.

"You could say that it's a force of habit." I open the door for him and he quietly leaves to go to his own apartment. It's not too far from where I live, perhaps a ten minute walk. We currently have no enemies in this area, so letting him walk alone would help keep us off the radar. I close the door and look back at my work 'desk'.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my talent. I'm superhuman. I have abilities people can only dream about. The Samaritan in me manages to reach out to my brain every now and then, making me wonder about it. I could be saving people, like pulling a person out of a burning building. Maybe I could do some vigilantism.

Hmph. It's too much work to worry about right and wrong. It's a shame that a part of my mind had to be sealed away; living as an amoral fiend isn't exactly what I had in store for myself. Still, it's much easier to live life without worrying over others.

But then what is love without morality? To love someone is the exact opposite of living for only one's self. In fact, it could be said that love is an extreme version of morality. And a part of me is very, very sure that I love Haruhi. Perhaps I suffer from some sort of psychotic or sociopathic love for her.

Well, whatever. It's time to find a bum.

…

Maybe that should be my contribution to society.

* * *

Step one: take gloves. Gloves keep my fingerprints from appearing at the scene.

Step two: bring a knife. A knife wound on the veins at the neck is not unusual, unlike teeth marks.

Step three: take a thermos and a cup. It is safer than drinking directly from the neck, as otherwise traces of saliva would be left behind.

Step four: hunt. Make sure no one is watching. Pick lone targets. Be quick. Efficient. Professional.

Step five: dispose of the body.

During the past month and a half, I discovered that blood is best served warm, preferably at body temperature. As I had almost always had cold blood in the old world, I never knew this until I had to go out and actively find a person to drink from. It's like coffee. Best when hot and barely acceptable when cold.

Still, in order to preserve its freshness, I have to refrigerate it in an airtight container. I don't know how to safely heat the blood without it cooking entirely, nor do I have to time or resources to try it out at this time in my life.

I've begun to understand what my original father went through. It's not easy hiding who I am from everyone, and the pressure to tell someone is always there. At the very least though, with my connection to the underworld, I can hide myself much more easily if I have to.

It's a good thing that the blood I drink is from humans now, as it appears to be high in quality. The need to feed is reduced to that of maybe a week and a half. There's something about it that helps me keep the feeling at bay.

And it's delicious.

* * *

"Are you alright, Kyon? You look a bit tired." Taniguchi and I are walking to class again.

"I had some trouble sleeping, so I stayed up later than usual." Hunting can take a while. But it's necessary and takes precedence over sleep.

"That insomnia again? Maybe you should get yourself checked out by one of our doctors back in the city."

"I'll be fine, sempai. It doesn't happen that often anyway."

"Hey, you're my right hand man, you know. I don't want you to be half asleep when I need you the most, okay?"

"I'll get some coffee from the vending machine then."

"It's not just that, Kyon." He stops and turns to me. "I need to take care of those under me. You know that, right? So let me know if you're too tired or anything. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sempai."

"And cut that shit out. You know what I'm talking about." He begins to walk again, and we remain silent for the rest of the way to school.

When we arrive at the gates, we part ways and I enter the main building. I close my eyes for a moment and reopen them to see the world in blue. I want to see if there is another person like me, but all I see are just stalks of gold. I close my eyes again and my sight is filled with color once again. I suppose it's a futile attempt, as I only know what the color green implies.

I climb up the stairs. Time to go back to the daily grind called school. It's more boring than usual, really, as we're going over material that I've already learned before.

* * *

Although it hasn't happened yet, I've wondered whether or not I will get bored of the taste of blood. It's good, no doubt about that. But it is something that I will be having very frequently from now on. Perhaps there is some way to incorporate it into some sort of dish.

Blood ramen? Sushi with blood sauce? Blood curry over rice?

It sounds like some sort of entrée from a B-rated horror show. Still, it does sound appetizing, probably more than the school food served during lunch. The cafeteria's food isn't terrible, but I'm half tempted to bring a thermos of cold blood with me. At least the baked goods are bought from an outside producer.

"Kyon, there you are." I turn to see Taniguchi approach me. "Finish up fast. We've got some work to do."

"Work?" I'm a bit lost here.

"Come on. You didn't forget, did you?" His hand reaches into his inside pocket and comes out holding something. My jaw almost drops. It's the handle of a pair of scissors. And it looks big.

He turns to leave and I follow after, leaving the food behind. "Wait, are you sure about this? We don't even know who she looks like. It's crazy to just start a search like this. And when did you get those scissors?"

"Kyon, the scissors are for in case we find her. And trust me, I have a good feeling that she's up on the roof right now, relaxing with her buddies. As for where I got them, I went to the convenience store after I left your place. I'm always amazed by what they have in stock."

We leave the cafeteria and start to head up to the roof. I can't help but panic about what's about to happen.

"Sempai, is this-"

"Watch it."

"T-Taniguchi," I try to say it in a fearful manner, "please think this through! We have no plan! We'll just be walking into a trap!"

"Trap, shmap. We'll be fine. Besides, it's a part of the plan."

"Plan?" It would appear that he's managed to use his brain, although haphazardly.

"You don't get it yet?" He continues up the second flight of stairs, approaching the third floor. "If I go back up, those guys will be back. I'm good at fighting, so they should be a piece of cake. But then that ribbons bitch will try and get me."

"But then it will be like last time!"

"No, it won't. I believe she'll announce something about my stupidity at coming back up here before coming out." He smiles. "This is where I get her. She's a school bully, that's it. She only has to raise her fists and everyone tucks their tail and runs. But not us."

I have to talk him out of this. "That's a terrible idea! You're relying on too many unpredictable-"

I run into someone, a girl. I'm fine, of course, but the person has been knocked down, giving out a small cry. I begin to stretch out a hand to help her up, but I feel myself pause. It's Asahina-san.

If this were the old me, I'm sure that I would feel a bit elated that I have found someone else who was from the SOS Brigade. But the club from back then doesn't matter anymore. That club is why I'm in this new world.

"Hey, are ya gonna help the lady up, or am I going to have to remind ya?" Yet another familiar voice. I look up to see Tsuruya-san quickly moving towards me.

I quickly scan her. She's human.

"Well?" her slightly upturned lips and angled eyebrows give a very big hint that I should be doing something to avoid her anger.

"I'm very sorry about that." I reach over and gently lift Asahina-san back up. And I smell something. It's faintly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

Taniguchi coughs to remind me of his presence. "Kyon, we've got business to take care of." He turns to the two girls and bows a bit. "You'll have to forgive my friend, sempai. He's a little bit on the clumsy side." He turns to look at me.

Fuck you Taniguchi. "I'm very sorry, sempai. I'll be more careful from now on." I bow as well. They are third years, after all.

"Hmph. Be more careful next time." Tsuruya-san walks away with a huff while Asahina-san eyes us a bit before leaving. We start to go up the stairs again.

"I didn't know you preferred older girls," Taniguchi says as we continue to climb the stairs. "I bet it's because you believe they're probably more experienced than you."

Seriously, fuck you. "I think we should be getting back to the plan."

"You're right," we reach the roof exit. "We should stick to the plan. But I can give you some tips on picking up girls."

"That won't be necessary." Fuck. "Besides, your plan has nothing about cutting her hair." You. "When do you plan to do that?"

Taniguchi takes the scissors out of his inside pocket. Like I asked for last night, it's are a fairly large pair. He turns it and grasps its closed blade. He gestures the handle to me. My heart pounds and I know what he wants. "That's where you come in." All the anger I had felt from the small encounter drains away and is replaced with anxiety. "You're going to be the one to cut her hair. Your job is to wait here and watch the fight as it progresses. When she starts to attack, you are to come out. I should be able to take care of her easily and when I knock her onto her stomach, you hold her down and do it."

This sounds like rape.

"I can't cut her hair myself because everyone will want to interrupt me. But once they see that you have scissors, they'll stop. I'll keep them at bay if they try and stop you."

I take the scissors, but inside I'm battling with myself. Do I actually cut her hair? It would be ruinous for my chances with her in this world. Granted, there are other things that will affect the final outcome, but I would rather not ruin my chances.

At the same time though, I have to avoid raising suspicion with Taniguchi. No one must know that I'm not the same Kyon as before. Among everything, that comes first. Unless I can think of a solution, I will have to cut her hair.

Still, there is hope that the person isn't Haruhi. But it's a slim chance. Even a part of me wishes that it is Haruhi. That saves me the time of searching for her. But I wish that it is Taniguchi who would be cutting her hair.

"Alright, Kyon, I'm going in. Remember, once she comes out I'll deck her as soon as possible and you are to rush out, hold her down, and cut her hair."

"Taniguchi, wait, is this really the best idea?"

"Hey, you were the one who suggested it." He approaches the door. "Stay out of sight for now. Don't start looking until the fight begins. I don't know how good you are at fighting, so I want you to hide in the beginning.

I have no choice but to do as he says. I move to hide behind the side of the door. I take a breath and anxiously nod my head, letting him know that I'm ready. He nods before leaning back and quickly kicking the door open.

"Hey assholes," he walks out, "I'm back."

There's silence. I can only guess that they're astounded by his apparent stupidity to come back up. There are some chuckles afterwards. "If it's a beating you want," some faceless student says, "we give those out for free, second year." So we're dealing with upperclassmen. But Haruhi is in my year, so why is she up here hanging out with this bunch?

Very cautiously, I look out over the opening. "Funny," Taniguchi says, "I remember beating your ugly faces in until that bitch got a lucky hit." He must be trying to draw her out. "Now that she's not here, maybe I can get a fair fight." Several of the students begin to approach him.

Maybe it would be fair if the other side had about five more guys. Taniguchi knows how to win a fight, even when outnumbered. As the first fists are thrown, the difference starts to become apparent. He never keeps his sight on a single target for long. He revolves and always looks over his shoulders while keeping his movements erratic and never allowing them to surround him. If he throws a punch, he aims for the stomach area instead of the head as it's harder to protect.

Soon enough, the others, while not lying on the ground, have become wary in approaching him.

"What, are you all scared?" Taniguchi taunts. "I get a harder work out fighting my grandmother." He turns his back on them and begins to walk back. One of them takes the opportunity and quickly charges him. With a swift movement, Taniguchi swivels his body around and brings his outside fist and all its collective force into the student's stomach.

Ouch.

The person crumples and falls onto his stomach, coughing up some blood. No one dares approaches after witnessing the scene.

"Looks like you guys are all bark and no bite. Typical dogs." He starts to walk away again.

"I don't think you know who you're messing with."

That loud, commanding voice. It strikes both elation and fear in my heart.

"So, the ribbons bitch finally steps out." Taniguchi turns to face where the voice came from. The students part to reveal the girl that Taniguchi described. I can see that she has golden eyes and long hair that's a shade of brown with its many ribbons.

There is no mistaking it. The voice, the looks, everything matches up. It's Haruhi, alright. She looks very different in this school's uniform, but it's still a beautiful sight to behold. For a moment, my mind begins to compare the two of them. Do I prefer the one with short hair and the white and green sailor uniform, or the one with long hair and the black uniform with sleeves that covers her arms and a pink bow in the center of it all?

I'll think about it later tonight. Yeah. Think about it…

"So you're saying that you're better than all of these guys here?" Taniguchi most likely has a sneer on his face. He doesn't like her one bit. "That's quite a thing to claim. Do you plan to prove it?"

"I already did yesterday. There is no point to do so again." The attitude is the same as well. And she's smiling. That smile makes me shiver.

"You got one lucky hit. Let's see you do the same in a one-on-one fight."

"Hmph." She still has that adamant attitude. "Then I guess you won't mind if I go first." She charges at him with ferocity I have never seen her have before. Just like how I am different in this world, she must be different as well. The Haruhi I know may not have even resurfaced.

She begins to swing at Taniguchi, but he evades, stepping back to move closer to where I am. He must be trying to make it easier for me to get to her. He begins to throw some punches and soon enough both of them are weaving and blocking each other's strikes.

I try to watch closely. Taniguchi most likely has a strength advantage, but she seems to be faster. She's obviously shorter as well, but it doesn't seem to put her at a disadvantage. In fact, I daresay that Haruhi has the upper hand. It looks like she is able to pick apart Taniguchi's fighting style, as she seems intent on hitting his unscarred cheek.

He picks up on this. He begins to raise his left arm to block the area more easily. But it leaves his stomach open and Haruhi charges up a powerful swing, aiming for it.

Considering how he was able to deal with the pack of students before, I expect him to block it. I know he's fast enough to react to her punch. Instead, he leans left and turns right, making her strike into a glancing hit at best.

In exchange, he gets a clear shot at her surprised face. He uses the turn to add more force behind his fist and it becomes a smashing left hook. She lets out a loud cry of pain and reels around, a bit dazed.

I see him close in on her. He grabs the bow of her uniform and tugs her upright.

The world slows down. He begins to pull his arm back, preparing for another punch, one that's just as vicious as the last one. She already has a welt slowly forming on her right cheek. If I look closely, there's a trickle of blood coming from that side of her mouth as well.

I feel my body moving. I'm running towards the two of them as fast as I can. I have to stop him. His fist is beginning to move forward. No doubt that Haruhi sees it, but she's still dazed not just by the previous punch, but also from being grabbed. There's no way she can defend herself against it.

I have to stop him. I have to. I-

Time speeds up again, and my left cheek hurts. The world suddenly goes sideways and my face land on the hard rooftop while the rest of my upper body lands on something a bit softer. I try to get to my feet, but a hand reaches out and grabs my uniform by the collar, forcefully pulling me up.

It's Taniguchi, and he is mad. "Kyon, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I-" I don't care if they find out that I've changed. I couldn't see Haruhi get hurt this badly. She may be a school delinquent that gets into fights, but I have to keep her from getting in over her head. "I'm sorry, but-"

He shakes me, "Sorry, huh? Well, your sorry ass better have a good explanation for this."

I turn to look at her, and for the first time our eyes meet. I'm reminded of the first and second time I talked to her. She had stared at me for a moment, as if wondering if she had run into me at an earlier point in time before she spoke to me.

Her gaze is exactly the same.

"Well?" Taniguchi roughly shakes me.

"She's an old friend of mine." Technically, I'm not lying.

* * *

I get the feeling that this story may be moving faster than the other one, or at least there is more action to go about doing. Originally, this story was going to put Kyon in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity branched into two races - vampires and humans. And, as natural, they're at war. There would be time traveling, mirrors, gunshots, BLOODSUCKING, TURNING INTO ASHES, STAKES, GARLIC, WATER, etc etc, but it was really hard to work with and also kind of dull. So I opted for a more interesting twist, in my opinion. It also preserves the dark setting that was established in "Red" and also continues to work on the idea of a more 'suave' (as a reviewer once put it) Kyon.


	4. Chapter 3

So apparently almost all of my classes decided to spring up a writing assignment all on one day. Fun. But I like writing, so I deal with it.

inuzuka pau: Well, I would think that hair that's been grown out for that long would imply that she would have some sort of attachment and pride in it. I'm pretty sure it's not easy to keep it all nice looking, so she has to have invested some effort into it. Cutting the hair in this situation would abruptly take away something that they have put a lot of time into, which has now become wasted.

Guybrush007: Hm. I suppose I circumvented the situation... oops? I don't really think I thought of the situation as one to write about. But the issue will slowly begin to be addressed starting in the next chapter.

Silencian: Check your PMs

It would be wise to say that the next update will be a bit slower because I still have upcoming papers to write. We'll see what happens.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onwards!

* * *

Chapter Three

Everybody knows about students transferring to a different school for various reasons. Some do it because one of his or her parents got a new job and the family needs to move. Other times it's because the school is more prestigious. Graduating from it would be better in the long run. Every now and then, someone changes schools to escape bullying.

I couldn't help but wonder why that stupid Smiley transferred to our school though. How could he smile so broadly at every moment? Was he just so GAY that he had to put on that GAY look and be GAY all the time? Come on. Not even gay men are this GAY. And by GAY I mean happy. I wanted to punch his face in so badly. Just seeing him makes me-

Fuck it. I'm punching his face in now.

* * *

I'm holding an ice pack to my left cheek in the corner of the nurse's office. I don't really need it, but it was beginning to swell up a bit. My skin shows damage, but my body will patch it up quickly. The seat I'm on is a bit uncomfortable but it's not really on my mind. Instead, I'm watching Haruhi from behind a curtain.

The nurse is doing a basic check up to see if either of us suffered any brain damage. No actual equipment, just basic motor function tests. Of course, I'm fine but the nurse is taking her time with Haruhi. I suppose it's natural to be more concerned about the fairer sex.

The both of us came here from the principal's office. Taniguchi and I received the equivalent of a slap on the wrist and were dismissed, as we were merely recent transfers. Haruhi, on the other hand, was held back. Straining my ears, I managed to pick up on a few phrases, particularly one about Haruhi being a school bully. And that if this continues, she will have no future.

In all honesty, it's not that much different than what she used to do in the SOS Brigade. Her range of contacts, however, has changed. Instead of just being Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina-san, and me, it seems to be made of many more students and maybe Asakura Ryoko as well.

I should confirm whether or not Nagato and Asakura are aliens.

The nurse finally gives Haruhi a clean bill of health, opening the curtains. The both of us stare in silence at the woman as she finishes up the papers and leaves the room. Afterwards, our gazes fall upon each other and suddenly I feel the urge to say something. I take the ice pack that I was holding and put it in a small bin next to me. I don't know what the bin is for, but I don't care.

"So, do you remember me?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but quickly closes it and a wince flashes across her face. She may have an ice pack on her cheek, but it's only there to reduce the swelling. Any pain she feels is still going to be there. Putting on a grimace, she shakes her head.

I immediately feel a frown beginning to form on my face. I was prepared to accept the fact that the Haruhi I know may not have surfaced, but it's still hurts to find out. It puts me back at square one, but that doesn't mean that I'm about to give up. I shrug my shoulders. "That's unfortunate. We could have rekindled our friendly relationship." She scowls. It's an expression that I'm so used to seeing from her. It almost brings back memories. "How's your cheek? Taniguchi tends to hit pretty hard."

She manages to squelch out a sentence. "I don't see why you have to know."

"I'm just concerned about you. Taniguchi doesn't like to hit girls, but you did get on his bad side."

"Hmph. It's just one punch. I've been through worse."

I feel my brow furrow. Considering how women were once considered spoils of war, my concern is natural, but it goes beyond that of just concern. For a moment my temper flares up, but I control myself.

"Worse?" She says nothing, but continues to scowl. "Right, right, I suppose I don't have to know about it." I rise from my seat. "Stay out of trouble, okay? You may not remember me, but I remember you and our friendship." Of course, I also remember all the other naughty little things. But she doesn't have to know. "Stay out of trouble for me, okay? I'll have a head full of white hairs otherwise."

I turn to the door and open it. I hear some rustle of clothing coming from her, but I pretend not to hear it and walk out. She is probably giving me the finger anyway.

* * *

Yakuza members like to show their affiliations publicly.

Yakuza members are rambunctious at times and are known for their fixation with tattoos.

Yakuza clans tend to be the ones running clubs, love hotels, and brothels as well as some legitimate services. They also deal with drugs, guns, uncensored pornography, scams, blackmailing, and human trafficking.

Every now and then, Yakuza clans have been known to help out in times of crises, such as in earthquakes.

Finally, a Yakuza clan often has an office building in public with a billboard that openly displays the clan's particular insignia to show that it owns the place and most likely has a hand in the local dealings.

We're not like most Yakuza.

Japan has a thing for conformity. They prefer to avoid being the unusual person, the person to speak up and do something. The Yakuza adopt almost the exact opposite. They're immediately recognizable among a crowd and aren't afraid of the fact that everyone knows that they're Yakuza. They'll threaten citizens with any idea they can muster to get them to do what they want. And it will happen because Japanese citizenry have issues when it comes to doing what needs to be done.

Not us though. We do things differently around here. Our clan runs clubs, love hotels, and brothels as well as some legitimate services. We also deal with drugs, guns, uncensored pornography, scams, blackmailing, and human trafficking. We do everything they do, and maybe a little more. We just do it in a manner that doesn't expose ourselves.

And we don't help people. Usually.

* * *

Taniguchi is still fuming, bothered by the fact that he is unable to get his revenge. To a person who doesn't know him, it would appear that he's only angry. But it's really much worse than that. He's been known to have a short fuse when his plans don't go right. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's selfish or spoiled, but I would at least assume that he had planned to get back at Haruhi.

"So, she's your friend, huh?" It's the first time he spoke to me since the incident at the rooftop. He had been silent the entire time since we walked from the school to my apartment. I started on my homework again on my little desk. I didn't try to get Taniguchi to do his.

"Yes, although she doesn't quite remember me. It was all the way back in elementary school."

"Hmph. You took a hit for her, but it did you no good in the end."

"True, if you look at it that way." He's always got his head on women. He does his job, learning what it takes to be a Yakuza leader of our particular clan of brothers. But his hobby is girls. "But if you look at it the way I see it, it could be said that she owes me a favor. Your punches do hurt, after all."

"Yeah, right. Maybe if you can get her to suck your dick with your idea of favors, then I'll start looking at it your way." He leans back and lies down. "The bitch is a total waste of a good face. Looks pretty, but she doesn't have what I like."

Oh, if only you knew. "She's got her own school gang. She has to have some sort of talent come out on top."

"Doubt it. There's got to be someone who's sharing that power with her, or even above her." He sighs. "Still, you are right about that. She had command of a group of people. She's got to be good for something. She can fight, but I don't see anything else so far."

"It's too early to tell, sempai."

He shoots me a dirty look. "You know, you seem very supportive of her."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"… You like her, don't you?"

I had a feeling he would ask that. "Maybe."

"Well, I won't exactly say that I approve of it. I hate the damn bitch. Still, this is the first time that you've expressed interest in the fairer sex, Kyon." He puts up a small smile. "I want to see how this turns out for you."

"Stuck between business and pleasure, are you?"

"You could say that." He leans back. "I never knew that you were into the bad girl type."

"I don't know if you can really put her into the bad girl category. She was such a nice girl when we first met. She may have acquired a naughty side, though." She was developing one before we came to this world. I hope she still has it.

"I can understand the appeal they have, but I don't know if it's something I really want to get into." He pulls out a cigarette. Out of habit I light it for him, spinning trick and everything. "Anyway, Kyon, keep this Sunday free. We've got work to do." He stands up, moves to the window, and opens it.

"Work, you say?" Today's Friday, so…

"Yup, work. Wear your suit."

We just leave it at that. Neither of us really has to discuss the topic of "work" further, especially now that the window is open.

* * *

We have no plans for today, so as soon as I part ways with Taniguchi after we walk onto school grounds, I'm essentially free. I walk up the stairs to the second year's floor and enter my classroom. I make my way to my seat, but I can feel a few people staring at me. It would seem that the news about yesterday has begun to spread.

It's not an entirely new feeling. The other students often stared at me when I was in the other world. I ignore them and sit down. I take out my pencil and get ready for note taking, but I notice that the room suddenly has become very quiet.

"Hey."

It's Haruhi. I turn to see her standing figure that looms over my sitting one. "You're in my seat." Her hair is still long, but there is only one ribbon in it this time. It's the familiar look that I'm used to: running across the top of her hair with two tied off points to the side. I was unaware that she was in my class, or that the teacher gave me her seat. The old man probably knew I was kissing up to him and gave it to me out of revenge. She's got a band-aid running across the top of her right cheek where Taniguchi punched her. Kind of cool.

"It might have been your seat, but it's mine now." I turn back to face the front of the class. "Did the mandatory attendance policy start to kick in?"

"Last chance, asshole. Get out of my seat."

I don't pay any attention to her threat. "Nice hair." I still don't know whether I like it short or long.

Regardless of my own personal taste, it is the last straw for her. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her pull her fist back. As it extends to connect with my face, I calmly, but quickly, lean back and watch as it misses entirely.

Technically I'm cheating. I'm so much more physically able than her that it's not even funny.

Oh wait, it kind of is. The horrified look on her face that then quickly shifts over to anger makes me wonder whether or not she would have issues domestic violence in the future if she ever gets married.

Oh wait, that's going to happen. Almost forgot my near-sick infatuation with her.

She pulls her hand back to strike again, but this time I easily stop her fist by pushing it away from me. I reach out and grab her by the bow of her uniform before pulling her down to face me. I turn towards her surprised face

Have a taste of your own medicine, Haruhi. "I think it would be best for you to wait for your new seat," I gently say. She yanks with all her strength, but she only comes free once I let her go. Her golden eyes stare into mine for a bit with rage and contemplation, then moves to the corner behind me just as the teacher enters the room. His eyebrows rise when he notices that she's in the room and quickly leaves. I'm assuming that he's going to get another desk, but he's also a bit afraid of her.

Most people are afraid of school bullies anyway, and teachers are no exception. It's something about the fact that the Japanese citizenry don't like to stand out, even if it's for the right thing. What was the saying again? It was something about the nails that one hammers in.

The whole class stares at the two of us. I'm used to it by now, although I'm unsure if Haruhi is. Eventually the teacher enters through the back door of the room with a desk and chair. His forehead still has creases and it looks a bit shiny with sweat. He's most likely too afraid to get close to Haruhi. I get up and walk over to him.

"I can help you with this, sensei." I take the desk and chair from him, one hand for each item. I walk back to the corner Haruhi is in and I place it down in front of her. Then, in the most polite manner, "Have a seat, Haruhi. Class is about to start." She's absolutely enraged, but keeps it within her as she sits down.

Throughout the entire lecture, I can hear the other students whispering to each other, mostly about wondering why I am on a first name basis with her.

When I pulled her down by the bow of her uniform, I briefly got a nice view of her chest. It almost surprised me. She had a bra on, of course, but I realized that I had never gotten to see any of her most intimate parts.

_"Touch with your hands, not with your eyes."_

I wonder if I should have chosen to look at them instead of touch them that night. After all, with Haruhi's case, she wound up touching me anyway.

I should have asked if I could sneak a peek.

* * *

Class is over now. Haruhi, to my knowledge, has gone home while I have nothing with to do with Taniguchi today.

Time to go to the club building. So far, I've run into just about everyone save four people: Kunikida, Kimidori-san, Koizumi, and Nagato. Kunikida is somewhere in this school. Similar to the old world, Kimidori-san either never existed or simply vanished. And Koizumi…

As for Nagato, she's the only member of the Literature Club. Everyone else graduated last year and it is on the verge of being cut down by the student council.

One thing I always had trouble dealing with was what Nagato told me on the day that the SOS Brigade went to the temple to gather holy water. After we had fashioned our stakes and left Haruhi's residence, I had talked to Nagato about any recent data changes and she replied that there had been none. In the old world, where I was still coming to terms with my true nature, I had rejected what she said. I didn't want to believe that my family was made up of vampires and that they had been passing down this secret blood for generations. It confused me, as Koizumi had told me that I, at the very least out of all of them, was human. Did they not know the truth about me or did they choose to feed me false information? Nagato must have known, however, and she must have known before I even met her.

The club building is located across from the main building. It's different than my old school, where the two were next to each other. I wonder if Nagato was still the same.

Impossible. After seeing so much difference in this new world, there has to have been some facet that changed. After walking down the hall, I arrive at the Literature Club's doorstep. My hand rises before curtly knocking.

I hear bolts and nuts sliding. The door opens a tiny crack with a small chain dangling between it and the doorframe. Golden eyes behind a pair of glasses stare back at me through locks of light purple hair. I blink and the world becomes blue once more.

She's a normal human tinged in gold. "Is this the Literature Club?" I undo my vision.

She nods.

"Can I come in?"

She closes the door and the locks slide again. The door does not open. Something slides underneath it and I pick it up. It's a club enrollment form. I take out a pen from my pocket and begin to fill it out. It's only one page, so it's easy to finish it and I slide it back under the door.

The metal on metal sliding occurs and the door opens up a tiny little bit once again. She peeks out again at me.

"So am I a member of the Literature Club now?"

She shakes her head before her meek voice reaches my ears. "The ap-approval process will take some t-time."

"How long am I looking at?"

"Monday… m-maybe…" She closes the door on me. The locks slide into place and this time there is no paper that comes under the door.

Even I am surprised at this kind of change in her. Still, the greatest change of all is that she's no longer an alien. She's merely a human now, with emotions, needs, wants, and all the baggage that humans come with. She has no powers and is no longer in a position that creates an image of being untouchable or unreachable.

Nagato Yuki can be used.

That is, of course, if she really is just a human. She could have been merely feigning her stutter and acting timid to hide her status as an alien from me. It will take further deliberation, but what matters first is if I get into the Literature Club. Even if she has the coloration of a human, I am not about to bet that my vision is infallible.

And then there is still the issue about Asakura Ryoko. The two of them were related by profession in my old world. Judging by the fact that Asahina-san and Tsuruya-san are still friends, I'm willing to bet that Asakura and Nagato have some sort of connection.

There are exceptions to this rule, however. Kunikida, despite being my friend in the previous world, does not know me. I will have to gently bring up the subject of friends around Nagato to make sure that she doesn't suspect me of anything. I begin to walk around the floor, feigning interest in other clubs while thinking about how I should approach the issue. She doesn't seem to be one to interact with others, and the locks on the club door only reinforces the idea.

As for Kunikida, it's only a matter of time before I speak with him. I did not have the opportunity to find him, nor did I run into him in the hallway yet. Perhaps I will have to do some digging around to pick up information about him to use. However, he can wait.

I'm more interested in finding Koizumi. I've always felt a bit shady about him. He had connections to espers with powers and was part of a larger association whose sole existence seemed dedicated to worshipping the ground that Haruhi walked on.

I can only wonder just what this world turned him into. He's here at this school. I know that much. But until I run into him, see who he really is in society, see how he acts, and how he moves in his surroundings, I don't think I'll be able to safely do some investigating on him. He could have eyes and ears all over the school, for all I know.

Personally, I was always a bit annoyed by him. He never did too much to actually make me hate him, but what he did always bothered me because he never said no to Haruhi. He was almost always in veiled awe of her, praising her powers. Unlike me, who fell in love with her and may now have potential psychotic issues about morality in general, I don't know his emotions towards her.

It's not what he'll be like that I'm afraid of, but it's the fact that I don't know what he'll be like and what he's doing during the time that I don't know. Once I can figure him out, it will be easy to deal with him, maybe even take him out of the picture entirely.

I'm done sightseeing. I move through the hallways and head back down the stairs. I begin to make my way to the exit, but someone calls my name.

"Oh, Kyon, I didn't expect to see you here." Asakura's voice comes from my left, so I turn to face her.

"Good afternoon, Asakura-san." I hate how I have to add the honorific term. "I hope Taniguchi hasn't done anything too bothersome lately." I don't like her, but my line of work demands that I put up with her in hopes of gathering information and remaining hidden.

"No, he hasn't been too bothersome. He'll try to strike up conversations, but he hasn't been touching me." She tilts her head to the side. "I haven't seen you in the club building before. Are you looking for a club to join?"

It would be best not to lie to her.

Or instead I can act embarrassed. "W-Well, no, not… not really." I look to my right to break eye contact with her. One of my hands goes to scratch the back of my neck. "I couldn't really find one." I wonder if I can find a way to blush on cue. That would be very helpful in the future.

"Really?" The word by itself means one thing, but the sound of her voice implies that she picks up on my embarrassment. "We have a lot of interesting ones, you know. We even have a paranormal club, if you're interested in that kind of thing."

"I looked into that club too, but… all they did was just read ghost stories."

"Well, that's too bad. Hopefully you'll find one that suits you. Maybe you should try one of the sports clubs." She moves to the stairs that I just came down from. "See you later!"

After waving to me, she turns around and moves up the stairs. I blink and watch her golden retreating form for a moment before turning away to go back to my classroom. She's human as well.

I begin to make my way back to my classroom to pick up my bag. I leave the club building and start walking to the main school building. My ears begin to pick up the gossip and rumors in the open area.

"Did you hear about that guy in Suzumiya's class?"

"Brave kind of guy."

"Messing with the wrong people."

"Past lovers!"

"Got into a fight."

"Best friends!"

"Stopped a punch for her."

"What a mysterious transfer student…"

"A role model."

"Cute guy."

"Hero."

"No, just stupid."

Yes, that last one just about sums up most rumors. Still, hearing these offers me a sense of how the social environment has changed since I've stepped onto campus. I haven't gotten onto the bad side of anyone just yet, but I'm beginning to show up on the students' radar as someone who seems to be a good guy.

Haha… good guy.

Whatever. I need to get my bag and go home. I've got work tomorrow.

* * *

I apologize to anyone who really is a homosexual.


	5. Chapter 4

Later than I had hoped, but I finally got the chapter done. After finals, I wound up having a fairly busy but fun summer so far.

Silencian: The little excerpt at the beginning of each chapter is just a for fun "mind of Kyon" thing focusing on various subjects of interest from the Haruhi series. I tried to match the personalities between the little passage and the actual story, but I'm not sure if it worked out that way. It's really just for fun and really should not be taken too seriously.

GuyBrush007: That's kind of what I'm trying to go for. Haruhi has always been no-nonsense except for her own, and now I'm just making her actually enforce it (with force).

The site's editor no longer allows me to use three dashes to indicate a page break. I actually have to use their own. It also erased any previous page break, so I'll need to put them in the old chapters later. Also, I decided that I didn't like the idea of staying one chapter ahead of the reader. It got confusing sometimes, along with some other things. So I'm deciding to end it now with a double update. Enjoy!

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Four

So this girl invites me to her apartment. She doesn't exactly say that I'm invited. She just gives me a book. I flip through it and out drops a bookmark that tells me to meet her at the park. And so I go.

Except that I didn't look at it the day I got it. In fact, I threw it aside in favor of things I actually like. So the next day she tells me to look at the book again, and that's when I find the bookmark.

Here I'm thinking that I'm very lucky that a girl who I've accidentally stood up is giving me another chance. We meet up at the park before heading over to her apartment. Before long we're sitting across the kotatsu from each other. She serves me tea, and then serves me more tea and more tea yet again until I stop her. Are we going to fuck or what? I secretly picked up some condoms just in case, but nothing seems to be happening.

And then she starts ranting about how she's an alien.

So I just kind of nod and let her go at it. She's still human-looking. I don't buy into her story about her being an alien, but hey: if it's hot, fuck it. It's the motto that all high school boys, whether openly, secretly, or unaware of, act upon. She looks kind of cute, I'll admit. Take off the glasses and she might just start on the path of becoming a real bombshell.

But then she starts using the big words, like auto-evolution and human interface process. And somewhere in the middle of it she brings up Suzumiya Haruhi, that hot piece of ass with ribbons in her hair (I'd fuck her. I'd fuck her so hard.), saying that all of this shit is connected to her and me.

At this point, I lose all interest in her. When she's done giving her explanation, the conversation dulls out and I excuse myself. Flat chest (I'm not into huge breasts, but I at least want _something_ there), flat personality, flat voice. That's three Fs, no matter how one looks at it. There's fail written all over this girl in red ink.

If someone does fuck her eventually, I'm certain that it's not going to be me. Maybe it will be one of those nerdy guys who can actually figure out what the hell she's saying. Seriously, she can be your waifu for all I care.

* * *

Taniguchi's current job, among others, is to find a way to establish some sort of base of operations in this city. In order for us Yakuza to work, we need a place to safely convene and formulate plans as well as create a source of income for the local branch. It could be as small as a convenience store, or as large as a corporate building, but so long as it's there, it's fine.

My job is to collect useful information. Find out who the family members of the police chief are, as well as political members. Search for other Yakuza clans occupying the area and find out their sources of income. Know which narcotic is consumed the most in the local area.

The both of us do our work while keeping the fact that we are Yakuza hidden. We can be suspected of Yakuza affiliations. We can't do much about that. Anyone would be suspicious about a teenager seeking to own property. But never should we let outsiders know that we are a part of the Yakuza.

It could be said that I do the undercover work while Taniguchi maintains the idea that we're just two teenagers interested in real estate. I may end up doing more work than he does, but that's naturally how it goes. As the son of the clan leader, he reaps the benefits of his birthright while those who aren't do the dirty work. While this seems unfair, many of the members of our clan would be in other Yakuza clans or in worse situations if they were not a part of our clan. He reaps those benefits because he's going to be responsible for the wellbeing of thousands of men and the few women who play an active role in the clan. If he doesn't do a good job, he's out.

As the clan advisor's son, I also have some power within the fold. Just not as much as Taniguchi. When he finally ascends and becomes the leader, I'm to be his advisor.

I wonder. How would it have turned out if I was a girl instead, and my father never had any sons? Would I still be in this business?

* * *

"So, what are we doing today?" The two of us have just gotten off at the train. It's around ten in the morning, give or take. It's still busy, despite how it's a Sunday morning, the one day that Japanese citizens actually get to have to themselves.

"I found a nice property for us to purchase. It's an old apartment building that the landlord desperately wants to sell. But," there's always a 'but', "there's a squatter in it."

"Did you get to see the person?" We walk out into the morning sun with our suits on. I'm not a big fan of having to dress formally for anything, but I admit that when I do, I look pretty sharp. But it is starting to become uncomfortably warm.

"Not yet. The land lady did what she could, but she couldn't get him to leave. He's demanding a huge price to get out of the place."

Despite how much we stand out in our suits, most people won't mistake us for Yakuza. Yakuza wear suits that are bright and colorful while also wearing a colorful button-up beneath it, anything to stand out. We're sticking to the traditional gray coat, white button-up, and black tie. If anything, we look like young, unlucky business men who have to work on their weekend.

Taniguchi rounds a corner and I follow him. "Think he's more than just a squatter?"

"Definitely."

"How much are we paying for the place? And what do you plan to put in its place?"

"I'm thinking about a nice restaurant or a small hotel. Either is easy enough to safely use as cover while being easy to maintain. As for cost, including renovations, we're looking at maybe one billion yen. Not too much for us. Even then, we'll be using our own contractors to get the job done. Probably a third of that money is coming back to us."

"And the location?"

"It's great. It's close to the train station we just got off at and we're also in one of the nicer neighborhoods." Eventually he stops and turns to a shabby building. "This is it."

The entire structure is made of chipped cement. The windows look dusty, as if no one has lived in it for a while. The front door is decrepit and the entire building has been fenced off with some yellow tape and a sign that says it's unsafe to live here. The next big quake will probably bring it down.

"Kyon," Taniguchi turns to me, "I want you to go in there and do whatever it takes to get him out, even if you have to pay him, although don't go over ten million. I told the land lady that we would have it cleared out by this afternoon for the contractors to move in and get started. They'll probably have to tear down the whole place and start over."

He has never actually seen me do this kind of work before, and after seeing me get between his punch and Haruhi that day, it's almost expected for him to be wondering about what I can do. I'm sure he's heard some stories about me, but that's all he has to go off of. If he had a choice, I'm sure he would watch. But that would be too suspicious. I can be suspected because it's generally accepted that I get my hands dirty for him. But if he's suspected, our operation here may have to come to a full stop.

"I'll get right on it." Without looking back, I duck beneath the tape and head towards the entrance of the dilapidated building. "What room is he in?" Not that I need it.

"He's somewhere on the third floor. Not sure which room, he probably stays in all of them."

"Gotcha." I go through the main entrance and head for the stairs. It looks better on the inside, but the thin cracks in the walls are easy enough to see. The stairway door hangs off of rusty hinges and creaks loudly as I push it open. At least the stairs look fine. I begin to climb. I'm sure any normal person would have been scared to enter a building that could collapse at any bad moment, but it doesn't concern me.

I arrive at the top floor and I can tell that someone has been living up here. There are wrappers and other kinds of trash everywhere. There's also a slightly musky odor. I follow it until I stop outside of a closed door.

I suppose I should be courteous and at least knock.

A voice yells from behind the door. "Are you here to kick me off this place? I said before, I'm taking only one hundred million. Otherwise you can kiss my ass."

I try the formal and polite approach first. "I'm here to negotiate a price with you."

"Nonnegotiable."

"What makes this place worth so much, exactly? Do you have any papers to prove its worth?"

"My word is enough. If I say that it's worth one hundred million, then it's worth one hundred million!"

"But what are you basing your word off of, sir?" Starting to get annoying...

"Look at this place! It's in perfect condition. It's a haven, I say, a haven!"

Perfect condition, huh? This guy is off his rocker. Raising a leg, I give a swift kick to the door. The lock breaks through the door frame and it swings wide open.

"What the fuck are you doing?" It comes from a middle-aged, pudgy man who is sitting on the couch on the side of the room, although he was probably laying down on it earlier. "This is breaking and entering! I'll get you arrested! You'll pay me compensation fees!" His eyes are wide open and staring beadily at me.

"It's not breaking and entering." I shove my hands into my pockets. "Merely negotiating."

There is trash everywhere. Discarded cup ramen containers, convenience store meals, and candy wrappers lay scattered about on the floor. There is also a small stack of, from the looks of it, probably porno magazines next to the couch. But one thing that doesn't make sense though is why he's dressed so cleanly. He's got a colorful t-shirt and shorts while his hair is neat and combed.

If he had been living here for a while and really was just squatting, I assume that he would look at least a little bit disheveled. But since he doesn't, I'm willing to bet that he rotates with several other people.

"One billion yen! I want one billion yen for the trauma you've caused me! Then maybe I'll let you have this place." He looks furious, although I get the feeling that he's only playing the part.

It looks like there's also a glass sliding door that leads to the balcony. I walk over and see that it's still in fairly good condition. I open and close it, then open it again. "Well, I counter offer with one million yen."

"Are you mad? That's three whole zeros off! I won't go any lower than one billion!"

"One million. You'll get no more than that. The walls are cracked and there is no water or electricity. Only a fool would pay more than one million yen for a dump like this." There doesn't seem to be anyone looking at the window I just opened. Nor are there other bystanders as well.

He marches up to me and attempts to use his higher stature to intimidate me. "Young idiots like you don't realize the value of property. Maybe I should help you realize it."

"One million yen. This is your last chance." I look over to the side, but keep him in my peripherals.

"No, that was your last chance."

He pulls back his arm and takes a swing at me, hoping to smash my temple. I duck and turn towards him, moving away a little. "You know, that's assault."

"It's only assault if I get hurt, punk!" He throws another punch at me, but this time I catch his forearm with my hand before pushing it away. His eyes widen with fear and anger.

"Better not hurt yourself then." I lean back and pull him with me, forcing him into an unsteady position. I move through the door I opened and onto the balcony. I do a quick scan to make sure that no one is watching.

Once I confirm the fact, I throw him over the balcony ledge but hold onto his forearm.

"Holy shit! What the fuck are you doing? Pull me back up! Pull me back up!" I can smell the panic and cold sweat.

"Oh, maybe. Depends on how much it'll take to get you to leave." I lean away from the railing to make sure that I don't get pulled over while making sure that the noise doesn't attract anyone else. The place is surrounded by office buildings, however, where the employees should be hard at work. "One million."

"Come on, we can deal with that later!"

I quickly lean forward, giving him the sensation of dropping without actually letting go of him. He screams and gives off some relieved whimpers when he realizes that I didn't drop him. "One million."

"Five hundred million!"

I repeat the 'drop'. Is this guy stupid? "One million. Otherwise your friends might just have to clean up your body with a mop."

"One hundred million! One hundr-"

I look over the ledge and I let go. His eyes widen in fear as he realizes that he's going to plummet to his doom. He begins to scream.

And then I grab his hand just before he's out of reach. "One million. Final offer."

"Okay, okay! One million, one million!" I see some tears in his eyes.

"I can't hear you, speak up."

"One million! One million! Look, please, just-"

"How many zeros are there in a million?"

"Six! Six! There are six of them!"

Finally satisfied, I pull him back up onto the balcony. He collapses onto the floor, almost crying and I walk back into the room and move to the entrance. "Take whatever shit you want to keep and get out of here." He remains on the ground, a sobbing pile of worthlessness. "Now!" He shakes, as if shocked by my voice, and gets up. He goes throughout the room, picking up a pair of sunglasses, the porno magazines, and some other belongings and putting them into a bag, all while under my gaze.

He's angry, he's scared, and he's confused and embarrassed. He's been outdone by someone much younger and, by the looks of it, weaker. If he's really a part of a Yakuza gang, then his boss is not going to be happy.

When he's finally finished, he shuffles up to me.

"Leave the magazines."

"These are-"

"Leave them."

He obediently takes out the stack and places it by my feet. As he straightens up, I pull out my wallet and remove a single bill.

"Here's a hundred thousand."

"But you said-"

"Normally I charge idiots like you a one million yen fee just to talk to me." I throw the bill on the ground, forcing him to stoop over and pick it up. "This is what's left after the discount. Or would you like to enjoy the sensation of weightlessness again? Because that will cost you a hundred thousand yen."

He makes no more complaints. Defeated, he quietly leaves. I glance over at the stack of magazines left over and pick up one of them. I casually flip through a few of them, noting that they're all American magazines and uncensored.

I take out my phone and call Taniguchi. "Hey, I'm done up here."

His voice comes clearly over the line. "I was just about to call you. That guy just left the front door. What's up? It was kind of loud up there"

"Let our contractors know that there's some merchandise in one of the third floor rooms." That's one of our code word for black market goods. There's a fairly large demand for them, and American often commands the highest price from purveyors.

"I'll make sure that they pick it up."

"So what's next?"

"Well, after I call in the contractors, we go back to our place and change into something more casual. Then it's a visit home. Our old men want to see us."

* * *

The dinner table is filled with foods that must have been my 'favorites'. And indeed, they do taste good. Besides blood, I've been subsisting on school food and convenience store meals. I haven't had the opportunity to prepare something of my own to eat.

"How is school?"

When I first saw my father, he looked like a stranger to me. Age had twisted and marred his face into one that was barely recognizable. While only in his mid forties, he has grown wrinkles and his hair is beginning to slowly recede. His frame lacked youth and leaned forward like a crane at times. Even if he held a high position within the Yakuza, policy prevents him from living like a king. We are, however, allowed to have an actual home as opposed to an apartment. It looks exactly the same as the house I lived in before I came to this world. When I first opened the refrigerator, I jokingly wondered if there would be an orange juice carton filled with animal blood.

"It's fine so far. It's only been the first week, so a lot can still happen." Despite how more than half of my future income will come from clan business, my father is adamant about me obtaining a high school degree and going to a good college. It's a failsafe; in the situation that we fall apart, I have something to go back to.

"Is it a good study environment?" my stepmother asks. She's not the mother in the portrait I grew up looking at. That one died not too long after my birth. This is a new one. She's a little younger than my father, maybe two years or so and is a widow herself; perhaps there was something the two of them shared of having lost a loved one that brought them together. She had no children before remarrying.

She did, however, know about my father's position before their betrothal.

"The place I'm staying at is quiet. There are no major distractions either." Regardless, since I grew up without a mother, the old me welcomed her openly.

"Kyon-kun, does that mean I can visit you?" My half sister, however, has not changed at all. She's still the energetic bunch with that tie-off on the side of her head.

"Well, that will depend on when I have some free time." She has no idea what our family really does. As a son, I was notified of this fact not too long after my father remarried, as well as being expected to continue the 'family business'. My sister, however, has passed the age that I was told. I believe that my father hopes not to involve her.

"Now, now," I refer to her as mom, even if she really isn't my mother, "your brother has schoolwork to take care of. He needs to stay focused. Maybe we'll visit during Christmas."

Dinner is shortly lost in exchanges of small talk. When we're finished eating, my mother begins to put the dishes into the kitchen sink. My sister goes off to help her, leaving my father to me.

"Let's talk." My father goes up the stairs. It's a command of a senior officer to a junior. It's not a request, but a demand. I silently follow him as he opens the door to my room and goes in.

His voice is hushed, wary of the possibility of hidden bugs. "How was the apartment clean up?"

I lower my voice as well. "Not bad, only had to give the guy a hundred thousand yen. He also had some merchandise that he gave me as a gift. We informed our contractors ahead of time." Of course, he didn't give it to me. However, it's the term we use when we acquire goods from another group after some sort of conflict. It's similar to the concept of a supply raid. Because we're low, we target another group's merchandise.

"Good, good." He takes a seat in my desk chair while I sit down on my bed. "What about the city itself? Does it look like there is a heavy influence there?"

"We're not sure how big it is yet, but we're sure that there's some group in there. The man we paid today certainly acted in a manner befitting of one." Influence is just our term for other Yakuza territory.

"What have you found out about it?"

"So far, this is our first contact with them. We don't have much information to go off of. He was a middle-aged man. We could be dealing with a more old-fashioned group. They may even have an office."

"So how did you get him to leave?"

"I… dangled him over the balcony." My gaze averts to the side.

"That's very dangerous, you know." His voice picks up a bit in anger. "You can't afford to be reckless. We're not like other clans, who show their affiliations openly. What were you thinking?"

"I was looking for a quick way to get him to leave without offering him too much. I'm sorry for the extreme measures I took."

"Just don't do it again. Our objective is security, not rich and lavish lifestyles. The next time you need to do something like this, keep that in mind. It's the long run that matters," he stands up. "Regardless, there is some business to take care of. There has been a motorcycle gang in the area. While we normally wouldn't care about them, this particular group tends to travel along one of our routes."

I feel my eyes light up. "Do we have any plants in the gang?"

"We have a few. They just reported that they're about to finish eating and head out."

"How many are there?"

"It's rumored to be about two hundred, maybe more." He opens the door. "Take care of them, with nonviolence if possible. You should be receiving a text on where they will be heading after they eat. Be ready to leave once you receive it. The plants will cover you in case things turn ugly." He leaves. The interrogation and briefing is over.

I have one more question to ask. "Dad!" I rush over to the open door to see that he is halfway down the stairs.

"Yes?"

"Can I take the bike back to my apartment?"

He pauses, wondering whether it is a good idea or not. He begins to walk down the stairs again. "Go ahead."

That's all I need to hear. I rush back to my desk and open the very bottom drawer on the right side. There is a single key and I hastily grab it and attach it to the key ring I have. I also grab a pair of sunglasses. They're not gigantic, but rather small. It makes me look sharp, if I may say so myself.

My phone gives off a small rattle. I pick it up and flip it open to find a text message with the name of a nearby restaurant our clan owns.

I'm eager. Oh god I'm so eager. I rush down the stairs, grab my shoes, and head to the garage. I fling open the door and there it is. Before me is my pearl white motorcycle. It's a Japanese build where I can lay my body down, not some American trash. I open the garage and take it out onto the street.

I put in the ignition key and turn. The engine roars to life. I go back over the garage to close the door. I hop on and put on my sunglasses. I twist the handle and speed down the street to the location. The wind rushes by my ears and makes my jacket flutter in the wind.

I love Haruhi. But if there is something that ever comes close to my love for her, it's this motorcycle.

* * *

I apologize to any Nagato Yuki fans. I don't think I like her very much. She was certainly interesting as a character when I first watched the series, but now I see it as a gimmick sort of thing. "Need more character? Hm... How about we remove all character and give her computer programming powers?" Unique, yes, but also boring after a while.

And yes, motorcycle. More on this at the end of the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I had to blink a few times when I entered that strange cyber world with the other three club members. The entire place was just a sandy desert with a cloudless sky an uncomfortable warm breeze blowing through. I'm pretty sure I didn't eat any weird shit, so my brain had to be messing around with me. I look around and see that everyone else, save the shivering, busty lolita clinging to me, seems to have an idea of just what's going on.

I may be on some strange drug trip, but I'm not one to back out of an opportunity. I can feel her breasts up against me and my hand is particularly close to her ass. Maybe she won't notice if I cop a feel of her. As the other members converse in crap that doesn't really make much sense to me, I'm slipping closer and closer to-

What is that _thing_ behind me? It's some sort of giant, distorted sphere of grayish dark matter, and-

Holy shit, is that a giant cricket?

* * *

I have come to love this motorcycle, with its sleek look and for the fact that it is a motorcycle. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself an aficionado, but I do enjoy riding it. Something about feeling the metal beneath me rumbling to life and that I can control just where and how it exerts the energy it creates. It's the same reason why some people like driving. I just do it with two wheels instead of four. My first few rides weren't exactly easy, but it was easy enough to learn. I didn't even have a license for it when I got it, though. I've already had it for about half a year, but I only just got the license during the summer.

My other self hated this bike. It's understandable, though. I had received it as a gift from my father for making my first kill. I was some sort of sissy and became emotionally unstable for a bit. But that's in the past. My father has most definitely taken note of my change, but I doubt that he would still label me as unstable in the way I was before. Perhaps I did go overboard with the man back then, but just once wouldn't warrant anything too suspicious.

The streetlights zoom over me, casting their faint but visible glow over my speeding figure. It's getting close to the technical start of autumn, so the sun is just barely peaking over the horizon, turning the sky into a blaze of red, yellow, and orange, tinted by the small, thin-framed sunglasses I have. I'm not wearing a helmet because I doubt I need one. The wind blows past me as I lean in and out of turns, listening for that rumble of motorcycles.

My father told me to meet up with them at the restaurant, but I have a better plan. While it's not hard to hear a horde of motorcycles driving by, I can hear it better than anyone else. Pulling into a convenience store on the opposite side of the block where they were eating, I turn off my engine and sit up on the seat. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and listen.

A car door shuts and a man walks into the apartment building, most likely to his family. A young couple timidly walks through the streets, both of them desperately wanting contact with the other but too afraid to reach out in the open. The sliding door of the convenience store behind me opens to let in a customer. Someone drops some change into a poor beggar's collection cup, which is followed by a soft "thank you".

Raucous laughter comes from the other side of the block. Masses of keys jingle as their owners take them out of their pockets and insert them into the ignition. Engines roar to life and slowly they begin to drive off.

That's my cue. I open my eyes and start up my own bike before heading off parallel to their direction. If our information was correct, they're heading down a particular path where much of our drug deals take place. I don't go there myself, but I know where it's at and that they have to take a one way street to get onto the highway first. Casting a glance to my left, I see that I'm near the front of the group, almost level with the leader. A sign tells me that I'm about to merge left. I flatten my body and bank with the turn.

I can see him, the leader. Naturally, he's in front of everyone else by a fair margin. I speed up and finish merging, ending right next to the top of the group. If they were laughing beforehand, they've all gone silent now. That feeling of being watched returns as the eyes of every member sets its sight on me. I'm challenging their authority by being so close to them.

There's a stoplight before we take a ramp to enter a three-lane highway. It's red, and the both of us slow down, matching our speed. When we stop, the drones of engines make it almost impossible to talk. I set a foot down and look over my shoulder indiscreetly to look at his bike. It's an American build, where the rider leans back. Sitting up, I see that the ones behind me are also of a similar style.

Before I can return my focus to the light in front of me, my eyes cross paths with the leader's and stay there for a moment. I've got sunglasses on, but the both of us know that we're looking at the other. I imagine that he wants to say something along the lines of "You've got quite a lot of guts and a bit of stupid as well," or something like that. He's older than me by about maybe five years. His hair is an unruly wind-blown mess and he has black leather jacket with some shoulder spikes. His jeans have some tears, but they're form-fitting. He must be trying to imitate stereotypical American bikers.

Whatever. I break away from the pointless staring contest. My gaze shifts to the red light, feeling my body be consumed in an adrenaline rush. I want his blood. But my father wants a peaceful resolution. I'll just have to settle with scaring him.

I look back to the stoplight, it's still red. My fingers straighten, then close, straighten, and close again around the handles. I lean forward, going as low as I can and focus on the unlit light. He begins to rev his engines.

The drug deals take place on the road two exits down. I have to stay in front of him until we pass the exit and take the one after it, which should put enough distance between the biker gang and our dealers. It's about a six mile stretch.

As the light turns green, the message between the two of us is clear. It's time to race. I pull back on the right handle and begin to pick up speed. He does the same, but he begins to pull ahead of me little by little. He may have tinkered with his bike a bit for a better performance. That just means I have to beat him with what I'm best at – weaving through traffic. Sort of. I'm kind of cheating.

The first thing that greets us is the ramp to the highway. It's not very long or steep, but he's gotten a small, visible lead on me. As we clear the top, I don't feel the ground through my bike, meaning that I must have lifted off. I love that feeling.

Next is merging. The good news is that he's on my left, meaning he has to pull ahead of me before he can safely merge or wait for me to go first. I can put pressure on him. I don't merge. I only speed up as much as I can to try and squeeze him out, aiming for the tiny opening next to the wall and the oncoming cars. If he tries to merge anyway, it's him that suffers the most.

It works. I hear a small "Fuck!" and he slows down. I zoom ahead and squeeze into the lane with him behind me. The meter ticks past the numbers as we begin to break the speed limit. He's slowly catching up, but the cars in front should give me opportunities to squeeze him out again.

The first car comes up. I move one lane to the right and I hear him follow me. However, I stick to the left side of the middle lane, as if giving him an opening. As expected, he pulls up aside to me on my right, eventually matching my speed before slowly inching ahead again. However, there are two cars, one in this lane and the other in the left with matching speed. He wants to pull the same trick on me. Instead of merging right, however, I go directly onto the lane separation marks and speed through the two cars. Now he has to either follow me between the two cars or lose more speed by taking the longer way around.

Granted, he could do the same thing and stay on the other set of lane marks. Motorcycles are thin enough to do that. But he has two disadvantages. He's been forced to slow down once and he'll have to do it again soon to deal with the two cars, meaning that he's lost valuable time. The other is that he's human, meaning he has the fears of just about any human being, most importantly that of death. My bike might not accelerate as fast as his, but I'm willing to go past any speed and I've done nothing but speed up. I most likely have the upper hand in reaction time to deal with handling to make better turns and merges without dropping too much speed.

We pass the first exit. It'll come down to who has the highest top speed, who will reach it first, and how long we can maintain it.

As I guessed, he opts to stay on top of the lane dividers. He matches my speed and we're neck to neck, passing cars on either side of us. Soon, a large gap between the two of us appears with no cars in front of it for what looks like two hundred feet or so. He pulls into the middle of the lane immediately and begins to accelerate again. He's uncomfortable being on the lane dividers and wants to pass me here and then either get in front of me or use the difference he built up as a buffer to get past the upcoming car.

I keep speeding up. The meter is going much slower than it was before, but I've passed the ninety mark and will be hitting the hundred one soon. He gets close, but it's too late. The gap between the car and me is too small for him to squeeze in. He's forced to cut speed again and by now the difference is too high. I pull past the car just as the second exit flies by me in a blur.

By the time he comes close to me I get into the left lane and signal towards the upcoming exit. It's a circular one, so I lean low and bank left while slowing down. The path straightens out and on the left is another convenience store. I enter its small parking lot and park my bike, but I leave the engine on. Shortly afterwards the leader pulls up next to me.

It's just the two of us with a moment of silence. Finally, he says something. "You ride like you're the devil. You know that?"

"I only look good because you're a terrible racer. You could have beat me, you know. You've got the faster bike. If you had stayed on the lane divider, you would have won eventually." I don't even bother to look at him.

"I don't like riding between cars, my bike is wider than yours. Not to mention that you were going pretty fast yourself. It's like you don't even care about the risks. You just do it." There's a mix of anger and respect in his gruff voice.

"Well, that's because I don't have as much to lose as you. If I crash, the only thing that'll break is my bike."

"What do you mean? I'm not one to talk about helmets, but fuck if I don't know about biking hazards."

"Let's just say," I finally turn to him, "there's more truth behind your comment than you think." I let my mouth hang open and push out my fangs, then just as quickly as they came out I retract them. I lean in towards his now pale face and he backs away on instinct, almost falling off his bike. I close my mouth, tilt my head forward, and lower my sunglasses to stare at him eye to eye. "Get out of town. Otherwise you'll be seeing how much of a monster I really am."

I start up my bike again and drive off, leaving the stupefied man to himself. It's time I start getting back to my apartment. The good news is that this time I won't have to take the train back home.

But, damn, I need a drink.

* * *

There are some sirens in the distance. My hands loosen their sweaty grip on the handles and I come to a shaky stop. I fumble around with my foot for the kickstand, set it down, and lean back.

"Do you know why I stopped you?"

Kind of.

"… You've got no helmet on and you were above the speed limit."

It's a moonless night. There's no one around.

"I need you to get off your bike and show me your license."

My last thought is that I find myself rather… thirsty. Everything turns blue.

* * *

"So, how was home?"

It's Monday morning. Taniguchi and I are walking to school, ready to deal with another week's worth of lectures. "Seeing the family, not much." Obviously a veiled lie and he knows it. He says nothing, however. We're both accustomed to lying to each other when out in the public. "How about you?" I debate whether or not to add "sempai".

"Went to take a look at our family shop." More hands-on training from his father. "When that was all done, I got a massage before taking the train back."

"You always did like massages."

"You've never had one, have you? Otherwise you'd probably like them, too."

"I'm not really into that type of stuff."

"Hmph," he scoffs, "… virgin."

"That may change."

His head turns to me. "Really, now? You planning to put some moves on that girl?"

"Hopefully." There is a chance that Haruhi may reject my advances, but given the conditions of our presence in this world, I find it doubtful.

"Are you okay with the possibility of her… you know."

"That is something I wonder about too often to count." The idea that I may not have gotten to her first certainly bothers me. Her background is shady enough to warrant such a question. "Still, I prefer to hope for the best."

"And if she's not?"

"… Maybe I have a preference for experienced girls, as you said before."

"Ha!" he smiles and looks to the road again, "I walked into that one." His smile disappears and his lips form a more solemn look. "Did you hear about the police officer?"

"Yeah, I managed to read a few headlines from some newspapers before I met up with you."

"The police don't want to say how he was killed. Must have been bad. They had no pictures besides a recent photo of the officer." We take a turn and the school gates are in sight.

"What's your guess?"

"Stab wounds. Lots of them. And blood everywhere, not just pooled around the body. You?"

"… Chainsaw?" A stupid guess, but it's better to feign stupidity than say something that may give me away. He knows from our information network that I had come back by bike, although not which path I took. We keep tabs on ourselves just as much as we keep tabs on those who may oppose us. And since Taniguchi will be the future clan leader, all information currently goes to his father and then to him. I'm sure he knows about how I dealt with the man at the property as well.

I killed the officer. It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have been necessary for me to drink, but I needed it. After the race I had, I should have taken a breather before getting back onto the highway to drive home. I still don't know why I needed it, but I will have to wait until later before I can start figuring out just what went wrong. And I have to find a way to dispose of the bloodied clothes. I'm just lucky I encountered the officer with no one around.

The both of us are silent until we reach the gates. "Kyon." Normally he doesn't address me by name, but when he does, it's often for a serious matter. "Half an hour after class ends, meet me on the roof top. There's something important I want to discuss with you."

We enter the school grounds. The students are rambunctious this morning compared to other times, but we are silent as we part ways. Ever since I took that punch from him, I feel Taniguchi has started to become suspicious of me. If it's not because of attempts to usurp power or betray the clan, it's because of my garish actions. I'll need to be more careful from now on.

* * *

I find myself spinning my pencil in class. I'm still trying to find the answer to why my blood craving came early. Was it the adrenaline high of the race I had with that man? If that were the case though, any time that I find myself in a situation where my body courses with high amounts of adrenaline would require me to feed shortly afterwards. It must be burning off whatever reserves my body stores from human blood.

But then mere sports would require me to drink more often, although I'm not in any sports clubs. And how much blood do I require for each drop of adrenaline produced in my system? When I leaped off the building in the old world, it was in slow motion for me. And when I ran in between Haruhi and Taniguchi there was some distortion as well. Perhaps short bursts do not require as much.

But that doesn't necessarily work out either. This was the first time that I had an adrenaline rush after feeding.

"Kyon."

Repeated tests would be needed before I can come to any reasonable conclusion.

"Kyon…"

Is someone calling my na-

Something grabs the back of my collar and pulls. I'm suddenly reminded of that one time in the old wor-

My vision quickly pulls up to see the ceiling and then slowly reels back to face the front of the classroom. The back of my head hurts while the rest of the room stares back in withheld laughter. They're probably too scared to just do it. I notice, however, that I'm not in a short daze like last time.

"Now that you're finally here with us, please come up and do the problem on the board." Right, I'm still in class. I can imagine the smile on Haruhi's face, having caught me off guard, even if only for a moment. I hear a snicker from her, as if this is part of her revenge for having embarrassed the school bully in front of everyone. Granted, I doubt that she had planned for me to be zoning out in class, but I'm sure she is more than willing to take the opportunity given.

Thankfully the problem isn't too hard.

* * *

"Got a light?"

Besides that one moment in class, the rest of it went smoothly. After it ended, I found myself doing some reading in the school library before heading towards the rooftop.

I fish around in my pocket before pulling it out and, as per habit, systematically twirling it around before flicking the flame to life, arm extended sideways towards Taniguchi. He leans over and puts the cigarette butt over it and takes a few puffs before moving away.

We're currently behind the opening to the school roof. Both of us are sitting down as I patiently wait for Taniguchi to explain just why he wants me up here. He exhales, pale smoke exiting his mouth, staring at the chain link fence.

"Kyon, I want you to tell me about your first kill." His voice is low.

"Again?" I close my own eyes to see if I can hear anyone, but there's only the wind. His suspicion is obvious.

"Yes, again. I want to know everything. Who the person was, how and why you killed them, how you were before, during, and after."

I take a deep breath. It wasn't my memory, but it's still clear as day in my head as it as my other self's most vivid memory. "… It was about a month or so before we started summer break. He was a drug dealer in his late twenties. He had been with us for a few years, but it had appeared that he was selling less and less of them. Our group did some investigating, turns out that he was just taking a larger cut than before. Had a talk with him then let him go. A few weeks later he was still doing it, so this time it was decided that we were going to off him. We kidnapped him. Then my dad, who was in charge of this, took him, some men, and me onto one of our boats and went to the sea. I wasn't sure of what was going on, but I knew that it was… business related. Later, they brought him out, tied to a chair, and placed him on the deck. My father handed me a knife and I knew what I was supposed to do. I walked up, and just looked at him in the eyes. I was only a little more than half his age.

"I tried to end it quickly. I wanted to go for his heart, but couldn't. Instead I placed it in his gut. I felt the hot blood all over my hand and I was disgusted at myself. I wanted to get it over with. He was still screaming as I stabbed him several more times. I must have hit his kidney at one point, because he fell limp and stopped moving. I backed away, leaving the knife in him, staring at the bloody mess. Then I ran over to the side of the boat and threw up. I suppose as I was heaving whatever was in my stomach into the ocean, I figured out just what my father did for a living.

"Eventually we threw the body overboard, knife and all, and cleaned up the deck. Later, my father had a talk with me. He told me that he was a part of the Yakuza, saying that if I didn't want to go into what he was doing, he would understand. He let slip that you were also a part of it, which was ultimately why I decided to continue this line of family business."

When I finish, Taniguchi says nothing, only smokes some more. Eventually, he takes the cigarette out of his mouth. "You're not going to ask me for my first time?"

"Knowing you, it would probably be about how you lost your virginity. Not to mention that you of all people shouldn't be getting your hands dirty."

He smiles. "Got me there. You know that I have women on my mind for way too much of the time." He stands up and throws the cigarette to the ground, stamping it out.

"Why did you want to hear it again? This must be the third time I've told you." I rise to my feet, stretching my arms into the air before settling them at my sides.

"Just reconfirming some things. You've changed a lot recently. You're more outgoing and now you're on the verge of getting a girlfriend. Just had to make sure you're the same person, that's all." He moves to the corner. "I'm off to explore the city, maybe I can spot that yakuza headquarters somewhere, if they're that old-fashioned."

"Alone? Shouldn't I go with you?"

"Of course not. I managed to get a cute underclassman to show me around the popular afterschool hangouts." He rounds the corner and I follow after him.

"What's she like?" I ask out of curiosity.

"A little quiet and timid, one of those kinds. Dresses modestly, a bit soft spoken." We go through the entrance and start going down the stairs.

"You thinking of getting it on with her?" I quietly ask.

"Nah, too early to determine whether I want to pursue that path. I'm just working on my contacts for now." We reach the second floor. "I'm meeting up with her at the front gates, so I'll see you later." He proceeds down the stairs, leaving me alone.

Time to find Haruhi. I return to my classroom to pick up my bag. I then turn to the empty desk behind me. I inhale deeply, pick out Haruhi's scent, and begin to follow it. It's a little faint, but it's certainly there. What pleases me the most is that it's the same scent as it was in the old world. I walk out of the classroom and head right, away from the center staircase and towards the one on the side. I open the door separating it from the hallway and pause.

Long strands of dark brown hair lay scattered on the floor with a single yellow ribbon in the middle of it. I look up and turn right to see Haruhi sitting against the wall, legs tucked with her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees. Her hair is shorter than before, around shoulder length, and I know just what happened.

Someone, or perhaps multiple people, had a score to settle with Haruhi. My assumption would be that they caught her off guard, held her down, and did the deed. Almost sounds like rape. I bend over and pick up the ribbon from the floor with my left hand. I keep my mouth shut and walk up to her before offering it, dangling it in front of her eyes. She looks up at me and I see that she's hurt. But it's gone in a flash and is replaced with weak anger.

"You're the last person I wanted to see," she says while turning her head away from me.

"Well," I move over to her side and take a seat against the wall with her, "I didn't think I'd find you in a position like this either." She's not making physical moves to distance herself from me.

"Go away."

"No. Rather, I want to know just what happened here. I have my own speculations, but I want to hear it from you."

"Fuck off," her response comes out weak and unintimidating, like the yelp of a wounded dog.

"No."

Silence. We merely sit there, the epitome of two seemingly unstoppable forces colliding. However, she cracks first.

"Why?" She pulls her legs in even more. "Why won't you leave me?"

Because I like you. Because I love you. Because I'm mad for you. "… Because I'm your friend. Friends help each other." I want to say any of the other three, but I find myself unable to do it. It may be too early to say it. Instead I settle for something that is taught to kindergarteners.

Still, she has no response, as if in a mixed position of contemplation and stunned. I rise to my feet and offer her my right hand. "Come on, let's get you a haircut."

She looks at me, and then to my extended hand. She begins to reach for it.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" My head snaps to my left.

It's Asakura Ryoko, standing with her arms crossed and in a wide stance. I feel my brows furrow in anger.

For a moment, nothing happens. Then Haruhi quickly rises to her feet and reaches across my body to get her ribbon. She pulls it out of my grasp, leaving a slight burning sensation and brusquely storms past Asakura and down the stairs.

There's something going on between these two.

"So," I don't try to hide the anger behind my voice, "what warrants this surprise?"

"Hmph. Come with me. We have some important matters to discuss." She enters the hallway.

"And what exactly will we be discussing?" I follow after her.

She turns around with her hands at her waist. "Have you already forgotten?" she spitefully says. "We need to discuss your club application."

Ah, right. That. As I follow Asakura to the club building, my mind is still lingering on what happened in the stairwell. It was an inside job and Haruhi and Asakura have some sort of relation to each other. Time to start digging.

* * *

It was certainly odd, having to try and think of something to do with the motorcycle. I was wondering if I should scrap it, but since this is a gangster fic with a Japanese focus, it kind of fits and I decided to go with it anyway. I hoping that I won't turn it into some one chapter wonder and then forget about it for the rest of the story.


	7. Chapter 6

Hello again. I had hoped to put up a chapter before classes started, but I guess that didn't come out so well.

Silencian: Well, that's what the anime uses, so I used that. Maybe you won't see it in real life, but that's real life.

Guybrush007: I am hoping for some sort of development. Perhaps it'll happen sooner than I had planned. I don't know.

After this chapter is up, I plan to take a short break from this fic to write something else that has been on my mind for a while. Just a heads up.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Six

Sometimes, I like to think that I was some sort of ladies man in my past life. I have this thing with women. I don't sleep with them, but they gravitate towards me in that strange manner. And it's always the weird ones, ones that some people would avoid completely if they were given the opportunity. I've got one who thinks she's king of the world, another who's so meek that she couldn't kill a fly if her life depended on it, and one who just sits and reads silently.

But the worst of them had to be that bitch with blue hair, Asakura Ryoko. She took advantage of my naïve heart with an anonymous letter in my shoe locker. Thinking of what is to come I rush over to my classroom to find this girl. She certainly wasn't the one I was expecting, but before I could really say anything significant, bitch pulls a knife out and tries to kill me. Before long she pulls this enter-the-Matrix shit and I'm in some sort of cyber world, held down by programming restrictions that would only make sense to a computer engineer. In the end I get saved by the quiet book girl because she is Asakura's colleague, except not bat shit insane.

At the very least, they're all pretty. Even if I never get to play with them, I get to make my friends at least a little envious.

* * *

The Literature club looks a little like the old SOS Brigade room. While it lacks the little things that would imply that someone was living in there, the most definite tell would have to be that the table and bookshelf is exactly the same. Even the books appear to be the similar. I never took a good look at it. I just remember some of the colors from the bindings, and that they seem to be in the same place as before. Granted, those little things could be in the closet or locker, but they're certainly well hidden, at least at first glance. Maybe if I ever come in here, I may just find that hot pot the old SOS Brigade used when we celebrated a Christmas dinner together.

"Now then, it's time to discuss your… proposal." Asakura Ryoko sits opposite of me, looking at the club application I sent in on Thursday or Friday. Despite how she's acting, I know for a fact that she does not want me to join. I'm perfectly alright with that. I only wanted to see connections between Asakura and Nagato.

Speaking of her, she's seated to the left and behind of Asakura, reading a book. I can hear her heartbeat if I really listen for it. It thumps loud and hard, as if in anticipation or fear. Since I had entered, I could see her hand tremble the slightest bit and that she's turning her pages quickly.

"Why don't you tell me how you first heard of this club," her cherubic voice does nothing to push away the thought that this girl once wanted to put a knife through my chest.

"Hmm…" I do my best to look pensive and cast a glance upwards, taking a deep breath. "I believe this club was listed on the school bulletin as one of the clubs I could join. I like to write, and thought that this would be a good club to join."

"Well, I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid that this isn't the club that you're looking for. The both of us enjoy reading books, but we're not very big on writing. I don't think you would enjoy your time here if it was only you writing while the two of us were silently reading."

"That is true, but-"

"Also, you don't necessarily need a quiet place to write." She cuts me off. She must be desperate to get me out of here. "It would be best to find write where you're most comfortable in. Most would consider their home as a good place to churn their mind for ideas."

"I guess that's true…"

"Now then," she stands up. "Since it's clear that this isn't the club for you, I'm afraid that I will have to reject your application." She hands the piece of paper back to me and walks to the door, tediously undoing the multitude of locks. As I stand up, she opens the door for me.

"Well, thank you for your time," I say as I leave.

"Have a nice day." There is an obvious lack of courtesy from both sides. The door shuts and I hear the locks slide back into place. Now that that's over, I begin to head back to the main building's west stairwell, where I found Haruhi in. No doubt that she's gone by now, but hopefully the scent is still there. At the same time though, all those locks on that particular club door yearn for me to find the truth behind them. I would love to pursue Haruhi, but gathering information is equally important.

When I reach the place where Haruhi and I parted, I see that most of the strands have been cleaned up. Her scent still lingers in the air, however. I close my eyes and breath slow and deep. I do it again. And again. I keep doing it until I think I've lost count.

She smells amazing.

But that's all I will allow myself. It's more than enough to memorize her scent, and I'm more than happy to see that it's the same as it was in the old world. I will meet up with her tomorrow, despite how she will most likely be in a sour mood. That room is today's priority.

Time to get my bag and find a hiding spot.

* * *

"I found the headquarters. Apparently they're fairly old-styled. Almost stereotypical, even." It's Taniguchi. His tour with that girl has ended and he's now calling me from his apartment.

"What's the name?"

"Asagiri. Mildly influential in the area, but things can run deeper. I can't tell if that's the only one in the region, if they're part of a bigger clan, or if that squatting guy from this weekend is a part of them."

"I see."

"Speaking of that guy, I heard from my dad that you _dangled_ him off of the balcony railing. Pretty ballsy of you, if not stupid."

"No bruises that way. Easier to hide the facts."

"True enough, but still, pretty fucking stupid of you."

"I got enough of that from my dad this weekend."

"Right, I'll get to the-"

"Hold on, janitor."

"…"

"... Alright, he's gone."

"Janitor? Are you still at school? It's seven pm already."

"I found something interesting. I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

"Oh. Good luck then."

"Anyway, what were you thinking of when that janitor cut you off?"

"I want you to pose as a drug buyer. I'll give you the details tomorrow night."

"Got it."

We exchange goodbyes and hang up. I hear footsteps growing dimmer and dimmer as whom I assume is the janitor makes his way down the stairs. Once it finally disappears, I silently climb down from the top of the roof entrance. I lightly try to open the door, but it's locked. It's hardly a problem, however. I walk over to the side that faces the club building.

Even at this hour, a single dim light is on. Blinds have been drawn to try to block it out, but I can see it, barely brighter than the other rooms around it. There should be no students on the school grounds at this hour. I climb up the chain link fence on the roof and look to see if there is any staff before letting myself down on the other side.

My head tilts down. I am four stories high. There is a grassy patch a little to my right. That should muffle my landing. Pushing off the ledge, I feel weightless for a moment before gravity regains a hold of me. I begin to fall and the earth quickly approaches.

Both my feet make contact first. My knees bend and I lean forward, tucking my head in. My hands shoot out to support my body as momentum throws my body into a tumble. My back rolls along the grass until feet make contact with the earth again and I remain still.

Just like in the movies. Maybe I should be a stunt double. I'd be able to survive almost anything, anyway.

I hear no one. I quietly make my way in the fading light to the club building entrance and cautiously brush against the door. Usually it's wide open, but given how late it is, it's naturally locked. It's one of the solid doors that can always be opened from the inside. I walk on the grass to the right to check on the side entrance.

As I round the corner, however, I hear a click from the front entrance. I flatten myself against the wall. A creak echoes across the grounds as the door opens up a crack. Soft footsteps come out and there is another click. The door must have closed. Then there are more footsteps, heading away from my position. I lean over and catch a glimpse of purple hair heading towards the locker rooms across campus. It's Nagato.

I begin to monitor her movement. Unlike me, doing my best to stay out of sight, she proceeds openly. Either the janitors are not around at this time or, more likely, someone has paid them to ignore her. She's carrying something in front of her. When she is no larger than an ant in my perspective, I leave my spot and quietly follow her. I go halfway before ducking behind a trash can.

I begin to listen intently. Her footsteps have stopped and there is suddenly the tinkling of light metal against each other. Keys. I hear the door to the girl's locker room open and close. When I look over, she's gone.

Taking care that there is no one else around, I quickly but silently head towards the door. When I get to it, I place my ear against it and listen. There's a constant light drumming, a tapping of sorts. Water. It's not a torrential crash that a toilet gives, but it's not a constant splash that comes from a faucet. She's taking a shower.

I reach into my pocket and pull out my lock pick. My other self's memories from long ago tell me that this door is almost too easy to pick and that both Taniguchi and I almost always have one on ourselves. I flick out the pick portion while taking a thin L-shaped piece of metal, a torsion wrench, and get to work. The wrench goes in above the pick, holding the lock pins in place as I slowly configure each one. Before long, all of them are set.

My hand grasps the handle and I slowly turn and pull, making as little noise as possible. The lights are on and the air is a little humid. I pull my equipment out and put them back in my pocket before going in and closing the door. If it's anything like the boy's side, there are four rows of showers with bathrooms branching on another path right before the stalls. Three are against the two walls and six make up each barrier, a total of eighteen. They're at the back of the room behind several rows of lockers, which is a turn to the right after the entrance. I take out my phone and set it to camera mode. I slowly slide the lens past the wall and look at the picture – no one. I make my way to the first of six rows of lockers and move to the right side.

The sound of the bouncing water changes. It's no longer as high pitched and has gone a little lower. It's bouncing off of skin. Nagato has started her shower. I no longer need to check around corners now, although I still need to maintain silence. Keeping an ear open to catch any other sound differences, I look down the aisles until I spot something in the third. It's her towel and her school uniform. I take a picture of the items with my cell phone camera before moving to the last row before the showers.

Judging by the sound of it, she's in one of the stalls on the left side. The stalls are made in a way that while individuals can't see each other directly, a tiny portion on the bottom is not blocked to allow water to flow to a drain. I lay flat and spot her feet facing away from me. It looks like she's in the very left corner. Staying low, I move to the middle row of showers and get into the first on my left. If she turns around, she won't see my feet as easily.

I set my cell phone to camera mode again and crouch down. Sticking only the lens out beneath the barrier, I move it around and fiddle with the zoom until I get a clear view of her body.

…

_Click_

… Hmph

_Save_

_

* * *

_

The next day comes too quickly. I didn't get home until around nine pm. I managed to finish my school work and in addition finally get rid of that bloodied shirt from when I attacked the police officer. While certainly risky and not the cleanest method, once I made sure that there was nothing in the trash that could be traced back to me I placed it beneath everything else and tossed it.

The first class we have on Tuesdays is Physical Education, so I didn't even go to homeroom. Instead I went straight for the lockers. We're given the standard uniform, a white top and, for guys, shorts that match the school colors. The class is split by gender and combined with another class for most activities. To hide my tattoo, I feigned embarrassment and changed in the bathroom stall as well as wear a black undershirt beneath it all. It was going to be hot, but it was important enough to warrant any and every precaution.

During warm up and stretches, I spotted a familiar face. It's Kunikida. He must be from the other class. His thinner stature and smaller size were always indicators to me and it hasn't changed since. His face still looks round and boyish as well, and his hair was also a shade of brown lighter than mine. He's easy to pick out from a crowd. Perhaps his ancestry isn't completely Japanese and has some European or American blood in it. I know that some strict, old-style companies and schools prefer to accept those with a more pure ancestry, enough to the point that some men and women dye their hair black to improve their chances. His surname is Japanese, however, and no one seemed to take heed of this fact.

I don't have that luxury.

I kept an eye on him as class progressed, and while we were running laps I moved to introduce myself. "Is the school's PE classes known to be hard?" Take some deep breaths to fake the difficulty. "I've always disliked the subject." It was easy to get along with him. By the end of class, he's introduced himself to me and told me that he's in class 2-A. Perhaps I'll meet up with him for lunch later this week.

A quick change in the bathroom stall and I head back to my homeroom. I know that one day there will be a time when I regret being a vampire with enhanced senses and immortality. Today isn't such a day, but it comes close. Because everyone is coming back from PE, the smell of sweat mixes in with everything in the hallway. There isn't a way to turn off my nose, so I'm stuck enduring the smell. Thankfully, I sit next to a window, so at least I'll have some fresh air.

And then Haruhi walks in. I don't see her at first. I'm too occupied with opening the window, so when I finally turn around in my seat, I get a glimpse of her walking towards me at the side of my vision and I'm drawn in. My neck turns by itself, and there she is.

Her hair has been cut a tiny bit shorter, but it also looks like it was professionally done. My mind thinks back to her original hairdo. I can't help but gawk at how she is now, wearing the dark Kouyouen High uniform and that short, shoulder length hair. And that yellow ribbon of hers just tops it off.

I'm in heaven. And then there's her scent... and neck...

That _neck_.

"What are you looking at?" I'm jolted back to reality. Her voice is harsh and expression locked in an emotionless stare, as if she doesn't remember that I offered to help her but recalled Asakura's interruption. She takes her seat behind me and I twist so that I'm leaning back against the window sill.

Her cheeks are a little red. They're either still flushed from PE or she's blushing under my gaze. "Nothing."

"Hmph." She turns away, looking out the window. I keep my eyes locked on her. I'm expecting her to tell me to stop, but she makes no motion to do so.

"Hey, Haruhi."

"What?" She doesn't turn to me.

"… Looks good."

Now _that_ is a blush. A small scowl spreads, either from being annoyed by me or by the heat she feels in her cheeks.

"If you let it grow longer, maybe you could put it into a ponytail. It would look so good, it'd be criminal."

"Shut up!"

The two of us eventually turn silent. Much of the "new student" hype has died down and the general student body is a little less observant of me, now more concerned with their own affairs. The teacher walks in and says that class is about to start. Reluctantly I tear my eyes from her and turn to face forward in my seat.

She's so beautiful.

* * *

It is ten minutes until lunch starts. The current subject is English and we're being lectured on sentence structure. I lean back and put both my hands behind my head. Slowly I stretch one upwards and with the other I drop a folded piece of paper onto Haruhi's desk.

I hear her pick it up and unfold it. I can imagine her glancing at it once, then again, and one more time, trying to figure out why I would give her such a message.

There is a light tap at the back of my head and the sound of crumpled paper hitting the floor. She's hardly happy at receiving such a note from me, but I doubt she will refuse to show up anyway.

Eventually, class ends and lunch break begins. Amongst the general scraping of chairs, the one behind me is the first. When I look to the side, she's already sliding the door open and walking out. Perhaps she's angry at me. Maybe she's angry at the world.

Whatever. Time to figure out the connection between Nagato and Asakura. They're certainly friends, but there's something behind it all. After a good amount of students have trickled into the hallway, I begin to follow suit.

I close my eyes and breathe. I took a whiff of the two of them when I was in the literature club room. I didn't inundate myself like I did for Haruhi's, but I got enough that I can distinguish the two of them easily.

Currently, Asakura's scent is the strongest. Since she's in the same grade level as I am, she started out somewhere on this floor. I head out the door and begin to follow her. I'm taken down and out of the main school building, heading towards the cafeteria.

I enter the large room with a few crowded tables. Some students eat their purchased lunch here. Others take it elsewhere. I go to the side and lean against a wall, pretending to be waiting for someone. A quick scan of the room reveals long blue hair at the front of the line. It's her and she's just finished paying for her meal. She turns and heads to the exit.

I take a look at what she's holding and I feel my head tilt to the side a little. She's carrying about six different baked goods. The wrapping indicates that some of them are sweet while the others are savory in flavor. A normal student would consider one or two to be enough for lunch. But six? Given her body frame, it's not all for herself. It's not uncommon for friends to purchase food for each other now and again. Still, I haven't seen Asakura with anyone besides Nagato. Granted, I haven't seen her very much, but it's something that warrants investigation.

About a half minute after she left, I follow her. Her blue hair is still visible from this distance, but I don't even need to look at it. The smell is enough. Mix in the scent of the baked goods and it's impossible to lose her.

I take a detour and purchase some tea from the vending machine. I need to make sure that people don't realize that I'm following her. I open the can and begin to drink, following after Asakura into the club building.

I begin to pick up another familiar scent. Nagato. I don't know when she came by here, but it follows the same path as Asakura's, which leads up the stairs to the second floor. Eventually I'm led just outside the literature club room. I walk back to the stairwell, however, and sit down, drinking my tea.

I don't even have to go for the door to know that it's most likely locked by now. On the outside it only has the door lock, but on the inside it has maybe four or five of them. I don't know how they were able to get that installed without alerting someone, but it's been done.

It's not like I need to get in, anyway. As I listen closely, I hear wrappers being undone and light chatter. It would appear that the food was for the both of them. Still, the quantity bothers me.

There are some voices in the background over the crinkling of plastic.

"… talked to him yesterday. It shouldn't have happened. I told him to make it clear that the club wasn't accepting applicants." Adamant, almost angry. Asakura.

"I won't… nothing bad will happen, right? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" Meek, worried. Nagato.

"No, you did nothing wrong." A pause, most likely for eating. "In fact, I think what you did was natural. He was an interested student, so you gave him a sign-up sheet."

"And you just… failed him, right?"

"Flunking would be the better term. Besides, he should have his hands full with that ribbons girl."

"Did you really… you know…"

"… She was starting to slip up. She needed a wake-up call. Everyone thought the same. If she can handle getting a boyfriend while still keeping up her performance, then it will be fine. It's not punishment. It's a warning."

The conversation begins to turn to how their day has been so far, and I begin to tune them out. It looks like that's all I'll be able to get out of them for now. I have neither names nor leads, but judging from the facts, it's a ring of bullies working together. Not unlike the clan I'm a part of.

But it's rare for bullies to work together. Someone must be dangling something in front of them all to work together. Someone powerful, with enough influence to have locks installed on school property. It's unlikely that the janitorial staff doesn't know about the locks. It's more probable that someone has purchased their silence. Even if the janitors are bribed to not notice, though, other authority figures might not know what's going on because only a few of them step into this building.

I rise from the stairs and begin my descent, finishing off the rest of the tea. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but at least some answers are surfacing. But as with all intriguing mysteries, answers only lead to more questions. Definitely something that I will have to tell Taniguchi about.

Speaking of Taniguchi, there's that drug deal he wants me to do. I'll have to take a look to find out which drugs are the most popular in the region. The most popular one would mean that not only would I appear less like an outsider, but it's also most likely to be carried.

There's a holiday tomorrow. I'll use the day to explore the city, maybe even take a look at their old-fashioned headquarters for myself. It's something I haven't done yet since I've come here, despite how important it is.

It's like not doing my homework. If I'm not familiar with the area I'm in, I open myself to a lot of risks. And it's not just about knowing where the back alleys are, either. I need to know the attitudes of the people as well. Do they know that there is a Yakuza influence in the area? Do they look at it negatively, or are they more or less not concerned about it so long as it doesn't interfere with their daily lives?

I push open the door of the club building and return to the outside. Fall is slowly creeping closer. The tree leaves are beginning to turn orange and the air colder and colder.

I wonder how many Falls I will see, and how many of them will have Haruhi beside me.

* * *

AN: For about a week I had this uploaded, but I wasn't sure if I liked the name Asagiri. Then told myself whatever and just did it.


	8. Chapter 7

Been a while, hasn't it? I'm still around, just been particularly busy. I admit that I would have liked to put this up sooner, but this particular quarter at college was pretty hectic.

Raineh Daze: There is a point, but it won't really come in until a few chapters later.

Cool Haruhiism-follower: I don't know of any other fic where Kyon is evil, so I went ahead and made one. It's pretty fun to write, actually. Then again, I haven't seriously read much fanfiction for a long time. I usually just write.

Also, I never got around to writing that other piece of work, which sort of makes me sad. Still, it's nice to finally be able to post this chapter.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Seven

"So, what did you find out yesterday?" It's Taniguchi. We're having our little meeting here in my place, as usual. We have my small table out between the two of us, doing homework. Or, at least I'm doing my homework.

"Well, you know how every high school supposedly has its little secrets here and there, right?" I reach into my pocket and draw out my phone. I flip it open and press a few buttons, drawing out the picture of Nagato I took last night.

"What, did you spend your time chasing down some ghosts?"

"Hmph, hardly. I think you'll find the results favorable." I hand it over to him and he looks at the picture. There's a bit of silence before a smile cracks onto his face.

"Well, well," He lays down against the tatami floor, an arm behind his head with the other holding my phone, staring deeply at I-know-where, "I didn't know you liked those of... smaller build. It's as if your taste in women keep changing..."

I brush aside his joke. "Her name is Nagato Yuki, a member of the Literature Club and apparently a friend of Asakura Ryoko."

"I wouldn't have guessed. I've never seen this Nagato person near Asakura at all. Then again, we haven't even been here for a week. So tell me, why is this girl naked?"

"Acting as a normal student would, I decided to try and join this club. After turning in this form on Friday, I was interviewed and rejected yesterday. Nagato accepted the application, but it was Asakura who turned me away. What caught my interest was the fact that the club door had numerous locks. I stayed on campus to figure out what the reason behind it was and eventually it led to me following Nagato into the girl's locker room, where she started showering."

"Hmph... sounds like she's living on the school grounds." He turns the camera onto its side, as if it's a magazine centerfold.

"That's what I'm thinking as well. During lunch, I managed to follow Asakura. She bought a large amount of baked goods and then headed to the club building. I couldn't follow her further, but I'm under the impression that she went to the literature club room to have lunch with Nagato and leaving the leftovers for her to eat later." He doesn't need to know that the two really did meet or that I overheard their conversation. While I want to be helpful, I can't be too helpful without causing suspicion. It's not that our cause is in danger, but rather it is my identity. I'll reveal what I learned to him later.

"So, no definitive answer, but only a plausible conclusion. Any connections?"

I put down my pencil and look up from my work. "Surprisingly, Suzumiya Haruhi."

"Really, now? Your hopeful girlfriend?"

"I happened to have witnessed a particular event between the two. You know how Haruhi had her hair cut off, right?"

"It's a pain that I didn't do it myself, but yes. I saw her a few times today. You must be a bit sad."

I smile a bit "I'm not so sure how I feel about it myself. However, I managed to find Haruhi after it had happened. I had tried to talk to her, but Asakura interrupted me. The two of them had a short stare at the other before Haruhi took off. The two of them are a part of something, something powerful enough to hide the fact that someone is living in the club room."

"So... someone who might be as dangerous as us, huh?" He closes the phone and sits up, handing it back to me. "Keep an eye on them. If you find anything else, let me know."

"I'm certainly keeping an eye on one of them."

"Just don't go around taking pictures of her naked, okay? I might be the one who's really into girls, but even I don't do that." This time he takes out his own phone and starts pressing numbers. "This is the Yakuza building I was talking about." He hands it to me. It was certainly typical of a Yakuza building, almost stereotypical. It was made to look like an office building of a small start-up company. It had modest sliding doors in the front and a few tinted windows on the sides, but chances are there was only one office. The rest of the space within it is probably for holding materials or housing a few facilities, like a kitchen or beds. On the sidewalk in front of the entrance are small stands that had the name Asagiri on them.

"Despite how it looks like a stereotypical Yakuza building," Taniguchi continues, "we can't be sure of it. We can't keep an eye on the building entrance ourselves either to verify the fact either. I'll be giving my dad a call about the find and see if we can get some help over the subject. However, I still want you to pose as a drug buyer. I'll try to find the dealers. You figure out which drug is the most popular and use that as your purchase."

He takes out a cigarrete. I take out my lighter, giving it that spin he likes. "I'll look it up tonight, then. Who knows, maybe I'll even find the dealers myself and contact them in the city by t0morrow."

"Tomorrow? You're going to spend your day off alone in the city looking for drug dealers?" he leans in as I flick open the flame.

"Who said I was going alone?" A smile slowly spreads on his face and takes a puff. I turn off the flame and put away the lighter.

"Doing your job and juggling women at the same time. Looks like you're on the path to becoming a man. Stay sharp though, women and drugs are a fucking dangerous combination."

* * *

The most popular drug in the city area is cocaine and its other form, crack. The most common consumers are males ranging from sixteen to thirty-four years old. Effects are euphoria, extreme confidence, loss of appetite, insomnia, alertness, increased energy, and a craving for more cocaine. While there are cheaper drugs, it is addictive and draws back customers. Until they get off of it, they're always going to want more as long as they believe the price is right.

Our clan deals in cocaine. Shortly after I killed the man on the boat, my father showed me some of the drug labs we run in our city, where some of the cocaine we purchase is turned into crack. The labs are never very big, and we make sure that they're not found. The safest place is in the corporations where we own a significant amount of shares. We pay off the heads and borrow a portion of the basement. We have some of our own in the police force, so they're able to tip us off if a lab location comes under suspicion. As it is very expensive and one of our largest sources of income, protecting the flow of cash is top priority.

We don't make the main drug ourselves, though. We pay smugglers for the product from manufacturers in Brazil, where the plant grows naturally. Most of it arrives through the sea, where we can make the trade on a fishing boat that we own. These trades take place at night and away from the coast.

Taniguchi doesn't touch it himself, though. He has to make sure he keeps himself clean and make it harder for him to be convicted. Though I may be the future adviser and second-in-command, I am to handle any substances that are not supposed to be in his hands, which is why he wants me to make the drug deal.

I wouldn't be surprised if Asagiri gets and deals with cocaine in the same manner we do, if they deal it in the first place. As soon as we find out though, taking out their supply should be easy enough.

* * *

I wake up a bit later than usual. It's not a holiday but the school happens to need some emergency maintenance, so there are no classes today. I change into my more casual clothes. Blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and a beige short-sleeve button up, although I never button it up. I don't need to eat breakfast, I don't even have a lot of food in my refrigerator. So I grab my bike keys and head out. Perhaps I should stop by the grocery store and stock up on some things to make it look like I'm a normal person.

As I open the apartment door, I see that there are two motorcycle helmets on the floor. One of them is pearl white, matching the color of my bike. It's my helmet that I thought I left at home. The other isn't one I recognize and is a soft blue. I lift up my own and see that there's a post-it note on the inside of the visor with Taniguchi's writing.

_I didn't see your helmet in your apartment yesterday, so I asked the people my dad sent over to grab yours and a spare just in case you-know-who wants a ride._

He's particularly observant, though his deducing skills are average. That part is usually left for me or others. I may be able to see and hear things that humans will have difficulty discerning, but spotting a discrepancy is his specialty.

This also means that he knows I wasn't wearing a helmet on my way back from home.

I take both helmets with me and make my way to the staircase, slowly walking down to the garage floor. A few turns here and there and I'm at my bike. I put on the white helmet and put the blue one underneath the seat behind me. I climb on top and insert the key.

The engine awakens, rumbling beneath my body, and I begin to make my way out onto the street.

* * *

Indulgence is a cultural human quality. One may refrain from sweets or other particularly unhealthy foods for some time, and then allow him or herself to partake in a bit of strawberry ice cream as a reward. While I may not be completely human anymore, I still believe that as a vampire I'm prone to letting myself go every now and then. By popular definition, vampires are human-like monsters that can transform other humans into one of them. That would mean that while some sort of biological change occurs, a social change does not.

I like to ride my motorcycle.

* * *

Haruhi's hands are on her hips and she has that angry scowl on her face. "You're late." She's in brown girl shorts, the ones that hug a bit close to the body and end just a bit past her knees. She's got a form-fitting black t-shirt on top with a cute and stylish tiger on it. Not tight, but enough to see at least a few curves here and there. Her outfit, while feminine by design, gives out an American tomboy feel. And she still has that yellow ribbon in her hair.

I like it. It makes her look tough. Sexy tough.

"Sorry, the walk to the subway station was longer than I thought." It's a lie. I rode my bike over to a local parking lot just a little out of sight from the station. "I'm not too late, am I?" I walk up to her. She's still shorter than I am by a few inches, so she's forced to look up at me.

"Thirty minutes is very late by my criteria, you asshole. You were supposed to be here by eleven. Any later and I would have gone home." She turns from me and makes her way towards the station, leaving me to follow after her.

I rarely see her aside from glancing encounters, so this is the first time I've ever seen her just casually walk, and my mind takes note of it. It's more of a strut, a part of that toughness about her that is so enticing to me. She takes long steps and puts one foot slightly in front of the other, causing her hips to sway in an inviting manner. She also leans back a little to throw out her chest a bit.

I can't quite see her neck though. Her hair covers all but a bit of the bottom of it.

"What made you stay then?" Haruhi never was the type that doesn't mind a bit of wasted time. Something must have kept her here waiting for me.

"A friend made a bet with me." What a lie. All your friends ganged up on you the other day. If you're lucky, they were ordered to. "She said that you wouldn't show up."

"And so you bet that I would?" We scan our subway cards past a reader and the electric toll booth lets us through to the florescent-lit pathway on the other side.

"It was either that or be stuck at home. Since you're late, you're paying for lunch." She doesn't even look at me when she issues the command. It's as if a part of the SOS Brigade leader from the old world came back.

"Sounds like a good way to start the day."

"Shut it."

* * *

We went to her favorite ramen shop, a short train ride away on the northern line. When I asked why it was her favorite, she said that it's because her family used to come here often when they decided to go out for dinner. I paid in small bills to keep her of being suspicious of how much money I really have under my name.

"So, what next?" I asked as the sliding door opened to let the two of us out. My head tilts towards her a bit. "Got any parks or places you like?"

Her response is curt and she doesn't look at me when she answers. "I don't like parks."

"Then how about places you like? There has to be something you enjoy in this part of the city."

"... Do you like arcades?"

I should have expected her to bring up the place as a possibility, as this Haruhi is not the same as the one I knew before, but it still caught me off guard. "What type of games do you like?"

"Fighting games are pretty fun. You?"

"Racing." Especially if it's on a motorcycle. This is a particularly new discovery, though.

* * *

I recalled that Taniguchi enjoys this particular game. Every now and then when we had some spare time, he and my old self would go the the local arcade, put in a few hundred yen coins, and play against others. It was mostly him, playing, though, as he actually tried to get better at the game. For me, I pursued it at a more casual level. I didn't call out "cheap play", though, because when I lost, I know that they probably put in more effort than I have to try and win. I'm usually the one watching Taniguchi win a few bouts at the end, because I've already spent the coins I have while he's only on his third or fourth.

Haruhi is pretty good. I may not be one to judge in terms of skills, but she's winning a few consecutive matches, so she must know at least something about the game.

"You want to have a go?" She looks at me after winning a match against another player, a smug and confident smile that I've seen before. It's almost irresistible.

"I'm not very good though."

Her smile widens even more. "Pussy."

If it was hard to say no to that smile before, it's impossible now. I begin to walk to the other side of the arcade cabinet. "Well, guess I have to try now, don't I?"

"If you lose, you're paying for drinks after this."

I feel the edges of my lips curl upwards a little.

* * *

When she finally pulled herself away from the machine, two hours have passed. She told me that usually there aren't that many players. She guessed that there were more today because our school was out. I asked if she knew any of her opponents by name, but she said she didn't.

Predictably, I lost. I'm not very good at the game, nor did I want to try to pull any vampire tricks. It's just a game, and it might not even work on machines anyway. I may be able to react quickly and move faster than a human can, but when compared to light speed any real difference becomes negligible in the end.

Besides, I enjoyed losing track of time just staring at the side of her neck, watching it shift and move as she played. Losing the match meant that I could stare at it for even longer.

"You weren't kidding. You are shitty at the game." She stretches her hands up before resting her arms on her head, throwing out her chest a bit more than usual as she walks. I'm walking at her right side and half a stride behind.

Not a bad view. "Does it feel like you're taking candy from a baby?"

"Nope. It's my day off, and I have to babysit you. I say it's payment." Her voice is cheery, a nice change in tone compared to her usual condescending one.

I tear my gaze from her breasts and look at the side of her face. I didn't to bring it up before, as her mood seemed sour, but perhaps now is a better time.

Too bad she asks me first. "How's your cheek?"

"Hm?"

"You know, from five days ago. You got in the way of your friend's punch for me."

My left hand rises up to my left cheek. "Oh, that. It got better eventually. I think it's just about gone now."

"Hmph, guess you heal pretty fast then." Her bruise is still there, though.

"Didn't mean it didn't hurt though."

"Yeah, your friend has a good punch."

Taniguchi might have hit her hard, but the blow I took was meant to be harder. I saw blood coming from Haruhi, too, so she might be wondering why my bruise isn't still there, if not why I didn't bleed from the punch in some way or another. I'm sure she has her own suspicions.

She eventually turns and we enter a small, warmly lit cafe that smells of sweet cakes. It's not peak hours, so we don't have to wait for a seat. The hostess points us in the direction of a booth, where we take a seat and are given menus.

"So, what's good in here?"

"Since you're paying, anything that's expensive."

* * *

I know that Haruhi only said that I was paying for drinks, but I paid for the food she ordered as well. If she objected to it in any manner, she didn't make it apparent. I didn't mind. After eating, though, both of us decided that it was time to head back.

We took the subway back to the station where we started our day. Haruhi, however, was going to take a different line to get home. I told her I would see her tomorrow at school before saying goodbye and heading up the stairs towards the exit. A part of me wanted to believe that it was a date and that I should have tried to kiss her. The other half didn't want to scare her and ruin things between us.

Past the stairs, there is a convenience store just before the exit. I decide to go in and take a look at the local newspapers. They might not be as fast or useful as internet sources, but it's still credible. I purchase a copy before heading out of the station. As I enter the sunlight, my phone rings and I reach into my pocket.

It's Taniguchi. I bring the receiver up to my ear and make my way to where my bike is parked. "Hello?"

"Still busy with that ribbons girl?"

"You have good timing. We just parted and I'm beginning to head home. What's up?"

"Oh? Nothing fun afterward? Or did that already occur?"

"I'm not as fast as you when it comes to things like these, nor do I intend to be."

"Fair enough."

"So what's the reason you're calling me for?"

"Just a heads-up on the building we cleared out. The higher-ups decided that it's going to be a family-style restaurant. A hotel would be out of place and it's easier to manage. We're going to be co-signing this weekend, so expect another trip back home."

Both of our fathers are slowly beginning to ease us into the Yakuza business. One of the important aspects is being able to handle property responsibilities. Not too long after I killed that man on the boat, Taniguchi and I were given managing positions of a nightclub that our fathers set up for the summer. I began to handle transactions, both legal and contraband. Taniguchi received his own set of lessons, meant to guide him to become a worthy successor of the clan. From what he's slipped me, this ranged from learning to make good decisions in bad situations to initiation ceremonies.

While our fathers will still help us with a few things in the restaurant, it's the next step in letting us slowly assume the reins of the clan. While we held managing positions at the club, we're closer to one of entrepreneurs in this case. We're not as closely linked to the deals and transactions made between us and our customers. Instead, we become the main decision makers of the place.

"You sound eager to go back. Got a favorite girl you like?" I reach the parking lot where my bike is at and reach into my pocket, pulling out the keys. I use a bike chain to secure my helmet to my parked motorcycle so I don't have to carry it around all day. It might look funny, but it's convenient.

"I try to keep business and pleasure separate."

"Is it ever hard?"

"Depends on how good they are. I try to keep my hands off of them, but there's not much I can do if they can't keep their hands off of me." Hah. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go fishing?"

* * *

After I returned to my apartment, I began to read the newspapers. The headline story was about politics and how certain services were being redesigned to reduce waste and streamline the process. That wasn't what I was interested in, however. On the side of the main story was an article that was a follow-up covering the gruesome murder of the police officer, the reason why I purchased the paper in the first place.

As I lay it on the table I have in the center of the room with tatamis for flooring, I begin to skim through what's listed, searching for facts and names. The first opening paragraphs begin to state the facts. He was found dead early Monday morning. An autopsy was completed, but medical officers couldn't say what caused it. The police don't want to release how he died because it's too strange and gruesome. For a coroner that's any good at his or her job, though, he or she would recognize it as a bite wound that doesn't match most wild animals.

The officer died because I tore open his throat. I know that while I'm barely conscious when I lose control, I'm able to recall what happened, just not the fine details. My vision went blue. I almost fell getting off of my bike. But once I turned around, I saw his gold body and began to move toward it.

"Stay where you are!" I ignored him and continued moving closer. "Freeze!"

His body moves to pull out a weapon. I don't know if it was a nightstick or a gun, but I charged him and knocked him over. I felt something hit my head, but I ignore it and move in on his neck, delivering a sharp, deep bite while pressing down on his shoulders to keep his upper body still. I didn't go for the side of the neck, instead I tore out the center, disrupting his wind pipe. He might not have died from blood loss, but rather drowning in his own blood.

After I drank my fill, I cleaned myself up as best as I could and got out of there. Other officers would be here soon, as radio calls would not be answered. Otherwise, another commuter might see what's happened here. As the case is still under investigation, very few sources will come out and say that the officer's cause of death was from a bite wound.

I continue to scan the article, and a name comes up.

"'We won't give up until we find the culprit,' said Officer Kunikida."

I don't know if it's a popular last name, but it's still something to take note of. I'll ask Kunikida the next time I see him, though I'll have to make sure to put it in a polite manner. But Aside from the name, nothing else of particular interest stands out from the article. I fold up the newspaper and take out my homework.

I can't quite focus on it though. Ever since the phone call from Taniguchi, I've been having difficulty concentrating.

Hm...

Fishing, huh?

* * *

A lot of page breaks, but I think it was sort of necessary for what was taking place. I admit that I took a lot of liberties with this new Haruhi's character, but I'm trying to keep the fact that she's a bit of a bossy girl intact. If you take that away, it's not really Haruhi anymore.

Also, hopefully the last part with the newspaper reading made sense. When I read it over, it was a bit confusing, but if I were to change it now it would take a while for me to rewrite it I think. Plus I've been waiting to post this chapter for about two or three months. Things have just been busy though, hence the delay. Hopefully the next chapter will be up before classes start up again.


	9. Chapter 8

Been a while, hasn't it? I had actually finished the chapter sometime in October, but things were busy and I couldn't quite get it posted until now. Still, it's nice to finally put up a chapter that has been in the works for quite a while.

Raineh Daze: Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter Eight

Fishing actually isn't very fun. For me, that is. You take a fishing rod and some bait, cast the line into some body of water, and then sit there and wait, hoping that something is going to bite. In third world countries, I guess that it's still an important job to do to make a living, but as the globe slowly modernizes and commercializes, fishing is more and more about leisure and who is with you.

My dad took me fishing a few times. It's enjoyable if I actually get some action on my line, but otherwise, we're just sitting and talking and trying to make idle chit chat to cover up the silence between the two of us. It's not that we're on bad terms or we have a distanced relationship, but it's because that's what people do when they fish.

Maybe that's why my dad owns a factory that makes fishing bait.

* * *

The next day starts and it's back to school. Again I find myself at the near corner of the class, wearing the dark uniform, sitting with my back against the window. It's Thursday, meaning it's been about a week since I've come to this high school. It doesn't exactly feel like Taniguchi and I have accomplished much yet, though. All we've done was secure a building to remodel and determine the presence of another Yakuza clan. At the same time, however, we have to move slowly on these things. We can't afford to mess up anywhere, ever. The clan didn't make it all the way out here because we were fucking shit up. We survived because we made sure that the plan went perfectly.

Haruhi has just walked into the room. The sliding door closes behind her and she makes her way towards her spot beside me. We make eye contact**,** and we hold it until she sets her bag down and takes a seat.

I'll start first. "Thanks for showing me around the city, yesterday."

"Oh, that. You're welcome," she doesn't sound particularly pleased. She leans forward and crosses her arms before laying her head down, looking out the window. Her eyelids mash against each other for a bit.

"Tired?"

"Kinda. Had a bit of trouble sleeping last night."

"When did you fall asleep?"

"Around two or three."

The teacher comes in and begins to perform a rol**l** call. As students shuffle around and get into their seats, I lean in close to Haruhi.

I can smell the light scent of shampoo in her hair. "Meet me at the rooftop at five pm today."

"What, are you going to confess to me?"

I let my lips curl into a smile. "Sure."

She lets out an annoyed grunt, but if I look closely she has a tinge of pink on her cheeks. I know she wants to say something in return, but since roll call is beginning, I have the last say. Certainly an enjoyable feeling.

* * *

In the old world, making up lies to Taniguchi's questions was a fun hobby for the both of us. He would ask me questions, often regarding the opposite sex. I would try to come up with lies, lies that he knew were fake, but acceptable enough. It's not that lies are generally easy to conjure, I just seem to have a good ability in making pointless lies.

Considering the nature of my surroundings here, it's a good skill to have.

* * *

We're in the cafeteria. It's a large room with tables forming a center aisle and chairs on both sides. Taniguchi has done the rare thing of treating me to lunch. We both know what's going to happen, like a game that the two of us played too many times before.

We're silent at first, however. It gives me time to enjoy the cafeteria-quality food. I've heard a few bad stories about school food here and there, but it's not much about the taste as it is about whether a person can eat it or not, and I haven't been a person for some time now. On that note, I should at least buy some snacks or fruit to put in my refrigerator. If someone comes over and takes a look, it would be suspicious to have almost nothing in it.

After finishing my meal, I return the tray to the dish room and return to my seat. "Alright Kyon." Taniguchi has a wide smile on, showing just a bit of his teeth. I'm sure he's been looking forward to this. "You've been fucking hung over this ribbons girl. I want to know every detail about your little adventure with her." The interrogation begins now.

"Well," I like to take little pauses when we do this. It helps build up the conversation. "I arrived a bit late." I won't tell him just how late though. His eyes are closed, nodding a little bit as I go, but that small smile is still there. "She was wearing this kind of tight t-shirt, enough to show off a bit of curves. Looks a bit like a tomboy, you could say."

"First stop was lunch at a ramen shop that her family used to go to a lot. Kind of small, but it was decent. And because I was late, she made me pay for it. Then af-"

"Hold on," his voice is a little stern, but that smile is still there. "So you weren't planning to pay for the food? I know it's not officially a 'date', but it's common courtesy for the man to pay for the meal, isn't it?"

"You make it sound like I didn't consider it in the first place. You wound me."

"Hmph. Fair enough. Keep going."

"So I pay for the meal, we leave and start walking and asking what she likes to do. She says that she likes fighting games, so we go to an arcade. Turns out that she plays the same one you do."

"Really? Maybe I should try and catch her on the machine. It would be fun to beat the shit out of her, even if it's not her face I'm hitting. How is she, anyway?"

"She's pretty good. Had a few win streaks going."

"Did you play her?" His eyes are still closed, that smile still there, those arms still folded.

"She kicked my ass."

There was a short pause. "How many times did you end up fighting her?"

"Just once. I didn't think it would be wise to let a machine to continue stealing my coins."

"I bet you were trying to stare at her tits and ass."

"More or less true." I was actually looking at her neck.

He opens his eyes and looks at me, "So you admit you are a man. If it had gone on any longer I might have pegged you as playing for the other side."

"I admit I didn't exactly give you the most convincing show of a portion of being a male."

"Continue. After the arcade, what happened?"

"For losing, I was to treat her to drinks at a cafe. She ordered some snacks as well, but I paid for it anyway. Chatted a bit, then got on the subway to head back home."

"Didn't try to kiss her goodbye?"

"It didn't feel right at the time."

"Good. Usually you don't want to go for the first kiss so soon. Overall," he unfolded his arms and leaned over the table a bit, "I think you deserve a grade of B. You didn't do anything too stupid, though you missed a few points for arriving late and failing to try to impress her. Also, you didn't offer to cover lunch immediately."

"I was unaware I was being graded," the sides of my lips curl up a bit. "What makes up an A+ grade then?"

"If you fuck her, but that's pretty unlikely on a first date, so don't worry about it too much."

* * *

After classes ended, I spent some time in the library brushing up on some math. As both a yakuza member and a vampire, I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry too much about it. However, my father would be worried about me not getting into a good college. Even though Taniguchi and I are in line to become the clan leaders, it's a good back-up option if things fall apart. Though if the clan really goes that way, I'd technically be in the position to be one of the first to get locked up for a long time. That's what I get for being the one who will be doing much of the dirty work.

Still, my counterpart had a friendship with Taniguchi that bordered fierce loyalty. It's a facet I don't mind.

As the clock begins to tick closer to five, I begin to clean up my work area. I put the books back onto the shelf and put my papers and pencils and notebooks into my bag. I leave the library and make my way to and up the stairs, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. The halls are devoid of students, as most have already gone home or are in the library or doing club activities.

I reach the rooftop doors and push it open. There is nothing but the wind around me, which is good. I don't have to ask people to leave. The sides have chain link fencing with the tops curving in, creating a cage. Moving to one side of the roof, I look to the grounds below and windows of buildings. I close my eyes and then open them, revealing a world of blue. Little golden silhouettes dot my vision, but there is nothing large or shaped like a human anywhere.

I turn off my vision and grab one of the poles creating the fence. I begin to climb, putting my feet into the chain link holes. When I reach the curve, I tighten my grip on the metal and keep going until I reach the end. I stick one arm over and then the other before pulling myself up. It groans beneath my weight and pull, but it does not give. I slowly go down the other side until I'm standing at the edge of the roof.

"What are you doing?"

It's Haruhi. I feel my lips curve upwards. I take a hold of the fence to make sure I don't fall off and turn to face her. "Waiting for you, of course."

"Well you're being a fucking idiot. If you were going to wait for me, do it inside the fence. I didn't come here to be put at risk of suspicion for you getting yourself killed."

I drop my hands from the fence and put them in my pockets. Her eyes shift to them, but then come back to looking at me in the eyes. "I'm not about to die, you know." I'm very sure that I can survive this drop. "It wouldn't be the first time I've fallen off of a school roof."

"Whatever. Tell me why we're up here so I can go home." Her voice is quick and sharp, brimming with impatience.

"But you already know why we're up here." She had guessed it back in the classroom after all.

"So you can confess to me? Shut up and get back here so I can punch your lights out."

I just smile more. "Oh my god. You're not kidding." She turns her head to her side, a blush forming amidst her angry features. "Look," she turns back to me, "we just met last week. I don't care what you say about us being childhood friends. I don't care about anything else we did before."

"That doesn't mean I can't like you, does it?" Her ribbons look so beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

"To me, the only thing we've ever done was explore the city. That's it." She takes some steps towards me. Her voice lowers, but still has that angered edge. "You've never even introduced yourself to me. I only know that you go by Kyon because that's what that idiot Taniguchi called you."

"Then, allow me to correct that. My name is John Smith. It is a pleasure to meet you."

She looks at me, blinks a few times, lips go thin. Her back straightens and she folds her arms over her chest. "I didn't expect that you weren't full Japanese," she slowly says.

"Most people don't either. And with everyone calling me Kyon, it's not immediately recognizable, though the clues are there if you know where to look."

"Whatever." She turns and begins to make her way back to the roof exit. "Consider your confession rejected."

"Oh, deciding so soon? You don't have to give an answer right now, you know." I take my hands off the fence, making sure that it rattles. Hearing the grating of metal against metal, she whirls around to look at me. "I would rather you think deeply about it. I don't know what your goals are, but no matter what, I will stay by your side." I smile again, "I'll see you tomorrow, Haruhi."

I lean back, letting gravity do its work. Haruhi begins to run towards me, eyes and mouth open in panic, no doubt worried that she's going to hear screams of the people below as they come to realize that a student had fallen off the rooftop. Her arm extends, but it's impossible to reach me. I lose sight of her, dropping below the roof's sides. I tuck my body and rotate until my feet point towards the ground and I land with a soft thud on the grass.

I look up towards the roof, but can't see the chain link fence. Still, it would be best not to linger. I quickly begin to make my way to the school gates. While there was no one around when I first took a glance, someone might have gone to look out the window. I shouldn't linger.

I should also buy that stopwatch before I get home.

* * *

The person tonight is a homeless man. I found him sleeping alone in a dimly lit park. I have been watching him for some time from the top of a nearby apartment's roof entrance that I can leap onto. After studying the movements of those around the area for a few days, I make sure that everything is clear before I move. I head over, lift his upper body and put my hand over his mouth. Before he can react, I've already started to run across the street. A quick leap up the building brings me to my workstation, a tarp that is held down on the sides, creating a slope that makes sure that all liquids flow to the center.

The person is bewildered, first by the abduction and then by the sudden feeling of weightlessness. I snap his neck by snaking my arm around his head from behind and pulling, a quick death. I take my knife and make a cut at the rough skin around his neck, making sure to collect as much blood as I can in one of the thermoses I have. When it's full, I lick off the blood from the side, tightly close it, and begin to dispose of the body.

It's bothersome that the first reaction a body undergoes when a person dies is that the muscles relax. That means all the shit and piss that they were holding begins to spill out. It makes the entire process unpleasant. To help keep the shit from spilling out onto the tarp, I tightly string some twine around the pants at three points: just below where the thighs begin and around the waist.

I remove as much excess clothing as possible, leaving only shirts and pants. I then take a metal saw that I bought from a hardware store and begin to break the body into pieces. I work slowly, a gentle back and forth motion to make sure that as little blood splashes onto me. It will land onto the latex gloves I wear, but that part is unavoidable. I sever the neck, cut each arm at the wrist, and each leg at the foot. I drain as much blood as I can from each piece and from the limbs as well until I run out of thermoses.

Once done with the draining, I break the limbs down into more pieces, but leave the torso and the tied off part of the thighs uncut. I place the parts into several large double-bagged trash bags, making sure to put the bags underneath the tarp to make sure no blood splashes onto them. I roll up the tarp and put it in its own bag.

I then begin to take the trash bags of body parts and put them into dumpsters far apart from each other, going from rooftop to rooftop to the ones that I've selected beforehand. This will help keep authorities from putting together a whole body. While risky, I deliver one bag at a time until there is only the tarp left in its own bag. I take that bag and the saw back home with me to clean up with bleach in the bath tub so they it can be used again.

When all that is done, I turn off the lights and calmly sip the still warm blood from the thermos, with the rest of them chilling in the fridge for later. I can see why my father from the other world preferred to work with animal blood over human blood. There's a lot less work involved. The human taste, however, is leagues beyond that from the cut of an animal, enough to the point that I've decided that I should collect more than just one bottle of their quintessence each time I hunt.

Even if the police begin to suspect something, I'm targeting the homeless. Not only are they less likely to respond to such low profile people, a homeless person disappearing from the streets could just mean that they've gone to another city or town. It has its flaws, I'm sure, but the chances of me getting caught are low right now.

As I continue drinking, my mind drifts to Haruhi. I close my eyes and take a sip, imagining that it's her blood I'm having. It makes me tremble when I think about how good her blood will taste when I gently bite into her neck, lapping and suckling at the source of the liquid petals. I would come from behind, wrapping my hands around her body, exploring her, holding her tight against me. My hold around her is welcoming but firm to keep her from acting on second thoughts. Her breath would be heavy, trying to anticipate the moment when I finally penetrate her skin. I'd softly drag the sides of my fangs and tongue around the base of her neck, leaving wet lines of saliva, heightening the sensation with budding anticipation. Skin blushing and body aching, she begs for it, pleads for me to pierce her skin.

And then my hold on her body pulls her tightly against me, I stop exploring. She gasps at the suddenness and struggles against her wild heart. She fights the urge to flee as my extended fangs poise to strike. And I push in. Deflowered, she gives only a hiss and a wince for me to hear and see. Her muscles tense, doing her best to relax, moaning and letting me finish nursing her so that she may complete her metamorphosis and dance with me as one and the same.

It is a scene that I've played before and continue to play over and over again in my mind. Beneath my lidded eyes a dance of lights break out and I revel in my pleasure, enjoying the high it brings until my naked body is spent, tired and aching with the wetness of sweat and seed...

* * *

It's Friday. I sit in my chair, looking out the window towards the yard below. Class will be starting soon, so all the students are quickly making their way into the building. The door slides open and I turn around. Some students quickly enter, but shortly afterward Haruhi arrives. She sees me and the color drains from her face for a moment. Her mouth hangs open for a moment and her eyes are staring directly into mine.

I smile and watch as it causes her face to regain her normal angry composure. She stomps over to her desk, tosses her bag into the chair, then grabs me by the collar and proceeds to pull me out of the classroom. While I'm certainly able to resist, I most certainly do not want to. My own face stays smiling as the students watch us go down the hallway and to the stairwell, the same place where her hair got cut.

When we get past the door she pulls me towards her front and lets go, forcing me to feign loose footing by stumbling forward a bit before turning around. She shuts the door and then looks at me.

She's mad, but doesn't know what to say.

"Surprised to see me?" I feel my lips just barely curl up.

"Surprised?" her voice is quiet, wanting to lunge out and yell, but she suppresses it. "You jumped off the school roof. I thought you were dead at first, but I looked around and there was neither a crowd surrounding your smashed corpse nor was there any sign of blood anywhere. And now, I find you calmly sitting in class, waiting for me to arrive like it was any other day. How did you survive that fall?"

"I'm like a cat. I always land on my feet."

"Don't," her voice rises, but she takes a breath and calms down, "Don't bullshit me." Her voice stays low, "What are you?"

"Perhaps you should ask yourself that question. Do you know what you are?"

Her hand shoots out and grabs my collar again. "Do you want me to fucking punch your face in? Don't play dumb games with me." My lips begin to curl at her seething voice. I'm so close to her that I can see the threads of her ribbon and I can smell the melon shampoo in her hair. Too bad I can't see her neck from this close. "And wipe that god damn grin off your face! It pisses me off."

"You're a bully, Suzumiya Haruhi," I don't let her commands make an impact on me. "You're a bully who is a part of a larger group of people pulling strings in this school, and just this Monday, the people that you would call your friends, your partners, betrayed you." Her face remains motionless, but she stares straight into me with those golden-brown eyes. "Not only are you a bully, your standing in this school is questionable. You might graduate, but whether that is enough to save you from the streets or simply being married off as a housewife is doubtful."

My smile widens as I deliver the last line depicting her current state of affairs. "You've got nowhere to go unless you can count on your contacts from this group of bullies, and seeing what they did to you on Monday, I doubt their integrity."

"So what do you want?" She pushes me away from her, as if repulsed by what I know. "If you thought pretending to confess to me would get me on your side, you should have saved yourself the effort."

"Oh, no," I straighten my collar, looking at her, my smile still slowly growing. "That part was no lie as well. It's just that in addition to being my girlfriend, there is so much more that I can offer you. If you stick with me to the end, I can assure you that everything you're afraid of now will disappear."

"So... you want me to be your whore." she icily proclaims.

"Please, I am not offering you something so lowly as the position of mistress. There is so much more than just a title at hand here."

"Which is?"

"Subordinate, and if you so choose, lover. Keep in mind that if you did want to... sleep with me, it would be entirely of your own volition." I never thought I would say such a thing. I sound like Taniguchi. "No coercion, no blackmail. If you're going to sleep with me, it's because you're going to want it." That's about as much truth as I can give out for now. Only silence remains between the two of us.

She breaks eye contact with me for a moment, turning to look at the wall. Her arms cross and she bites her lip momentarily before turning back. "How can I trust you?" she says quietly. She's almost too easy to read. Granted, I have dealt with her for several years now.

"I can't offer you anything aside from my words for you to trust in. However, you saw what happened yesterday. That should be more than enough. You yourself have proclaimed your intrigue, after all," She remains silent, unable to make a choice. "You don't have to make your decision today. It's not something to be taken lightly. You can tell me what you think of it by Monday. Until then, think about it."

The school's clock chimes, signaling the start of classes. "We should head back." It's the end of the conversation. She keeps looking at me, but eventually turns around and heads towards the door.

I could just do it now. Save myself the effort, the time, the energy. Forget that I'm supposed to be a Yakuza agent for my friend and father, forget that I'm a student in a high school, and just become what I am, a bloodsucker with a goal.

I can just take my hands and push the front of her body against the wall. Attacking her from the weakest direction. Then by keeping pressure on her shoulders, I can just lean in and go for her neck. It would be so fast, so easy to turn her into what I am. She wouldn't even know what I was doing until it was too late.

But the location is all wrong. The stairwell is a commonly visited place, and I would have no way of keeping the blood from getting everywhere. It would be a waste of both sustenance and relation. I slowly follow her back to class, watching her body move.

Patience is the key. I will play my cards right. I will get her to join me. I will taste Haruhi.

And when I do, she'll be begging me to do it.

* * *

And now some news: I am think I'm going to take a break from writing this series until I rewatch the first season. While I know that this Kyon is purposefully supposed to be different than canon Kyon, I feel like I'm too far removed from the source material and need to reground myself in it. I'll still be writing, but for something else. Take care until later!

Also, in before John Smith shit storm.


	10. Chapter 9

Well this certainly took a while. It was actually finished a month ago, but Diablo 3 came out at the time and my beta started playing it, meaning this was put aside for a while. But it's here now.

Raineh Daze: Yes, you are my main readership I think. I'd love more, but I can't complain.

PerspexChameleon: I do have some sort of ending planned out, but I have no idea how many chapters it would take to get there.

ralf07: Kyon adds the suffix -senpai to Taniguchi's name because he is the person who will inherit the clan and thus deserves respect. Taniguchi, however, tells him to drop it and he does, all too happily might I add.

I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

Onwards!

* * *

Chapter 9

Most people don't like yakuza in general. We're a group of people who pull strings, threaten, and steal to get what we want, whether it is drugs, guns, women, or territory. Every now and then, people stand up and will try to get the group to leave town with nonviolent protesting. Some people have recorded who enters and who leaves a known yakuza headquarters to cause groups to forcibly cut ties because of the unwanted publicity. Celebrities and officials don't want to be seen entering a yakuza building anymore. It used to be a sign of power and prestige to be aligned with a yakuza gang, but not anymore. We keep to ourselves, making sure that something like this does not force us to leave the area.

That doesn't mean we're impervious, though. Every now and then, someone finds out too much or is just too curious for his or her own good. We have a few options. We can bribe them to keep their mouth shut or induct them into our fold. It depends on how dangerous the person is to us, really. If it's a male teen that is easily swayed by money and the idea of loyalty for protection, we'll take him in and make him one of us. If it's an official who has their own ugly scandal to keep out of the public sight, we'll scratch their back and bribe them if he'll scratch ours and turn away.

But sometimes, we just can't have these as options.

* * *

Taniguchi and I don't talk much on the evening train ride back to the city. He was busy staring off into the dark through the window. We usually would have talked more, or at least he would have talked more, but the both of us have things going on in our minds.

For me, it's Haruhi. Things would be complicated if she rejected my advances, but at the same time it is unlikely. I had plainly laid out what lay ahead of her in life, and gave her the option of changing it all by joining me. It was the first of a multi-step plan that could fall apart, but it was better than nothing.

The train pulls into the station, its gears screeching to a rest and letting its passengers off. We pick up our school bags and step onto the platform. We spot the middle-aged men, dressed casually like us, who will be accompanying Taniguchi and me on the way to our destination, which is my father's fish bait factory. We've seen them around before somewhere in the mess of faces that is our clan. No one really knows everyone, just recognizes faces. The only people that do know everyone is our fathers.

They greet us casually, as if we were their friends' children, and we follow them to a car and get in. It looks plain on the outside, but is outfitted with bulletproof glass and a reinforced frame, strong enough to stop most bullets. Most won't realize us for who we are, but it's always good to be careful.

As we pull out from the parking lot, another car follows behind us. I'm not worried, however. It's carrying our fish. My left hand fingers the stopwatch in my pocket, starting and stopping the count, resetting it. There's a bit of cord that lets me hang it from my neck, but I'm not going to need that.

Taniguchi finally breaks the silence. "So, who are they?"

The man in the passenger seat speaks. "One is a drug dealer who decided to side with the police. Our members in the force got wind of it and so we pulled him in for the trip."

Start. Stop.

"And the other? I was told that there were two." Taniguchi says, looking out the window and watching blankly while cars pass by.

"His girlfriend, to tie up loose ends." Start.

"Any contacts?"

"The drug dealer was disowned for dropping out of college ten years ago. The woman hasn't talked to her parents in years."

Stop.

"Well then..." Taniguchi pulls his eyes from the window and faces forward, "business as usual."

* * *

When we say fishing, we don't really mean fishing.

We're at my father's fish bait company. Today, the uninformed employees are off because of maintenance, but it's far from the truth. Even from the interior of the car, I can hear the gears running, but it's only the grinder that's operating.

We pull into the private parking lot, hidden away inside the loading garage, and get out of the car. The second car pulls a little further behind us and parks. One man gets out of the driver's side, opens the trunk and points a gun.

"Get out," he coldly says. A naked man and woman, both around the same age as the ones who first picked us up, slowly pull themselves out, hands bound from behind by rope. A second man exits from the passenger side of the car, also pointing his gun at the couple. Their heads are covered by a brown sack before it is quickly pulled off, revealing their mouths to be gagged.

We head towards the stairwell with the man and woman at gunpoint, following us as we go. The humming gets louder and louder, each flight of stairs taking us closer to the heart of the metal jungle. We reach the top floor and unlock the maintenance door with a key that only we have and the full sound is unchained.

In the center of the room is a large hole. It leads to the center of the grinder. Normally, a wide pipe takes its place, but today it is pulled back. Harsh fluorescent lights fill the room. I can just hear the rapid heartbeats of the two over the drone. It sends my own into frenzy. My thumb goes wild over the stopwatch buttons. Start. Stop. Start. Stop.

"Kneel at the edge with your backs turned to us." This time, it is Taniguchi who gives the command. Stiff with fear, the two begin to make their way to it. Their steps are small, hoping to drag out as much time as possible. When they finally reach it, they slowly kneel down, fifteen feet away from us, who are leaning against the wall of the room. It's hard for Taniguchi and the other men to hear, but the woman is sobbing, terrified at the whirring noise mere feet below her.

Taniguchi takes out a cigarette, puts it in his mouth, and looks to me. I take out my lighter, giving it that special spin and flick it open with the flame lit. He smiles a little, as if forgetting where he is for a moment. I light it for him and he takes a puff and exhales. He closes his eyes and turns back to the couple.

Before he can give the order, I interrupt him.

"Wait," the other men and Taniguchi look back at me. "I want to interrogate them, alone, if you don't mind. No more than five minutes."

One of the men speaks up. "We've already done that. There is nothing else we can get from them."

"But did you have them facing the gaping maw that is death?" I poetically ask. Start.

The men look at each other. They look at Taniguchi. He looks at me and I stare back. He takes another puff and heads to the maintenance door. "Give him a gun." He turns and faces me once more. "Don't do anything stupid," he says before leaving the room. One of the men walks up to me and hands me his pistol and everyone exits through the heavy door. I hold it in my right hand. Stop.

"Woman," I bellow. Her body snaps up. "Stand and slowly walk to me. Do not turn around. You will stop when I say so." She doesn't move.

I raise my gun and point it into the air, firing a shot. It echoes noisily off the walls and shocks the woman out of her thoughts. "Now!" She stands and walks backwards, slowly placing one foot behind the other. Start.

"Stay still. Get on your stomach." Once again she gets on her knees and this time puts her entire body flat on the ground. Her breathing is staggered. Her heart is wild, like mine. Stop.

Clear.

I move to her body, standing over it before placing my right knee a little to the right side from the center of her back and putting the gun up to her head. "Don't move." I let my weight go, holding her in place and putting the gun away. My right hand then goes to her shoulder to keep her down. I take my knee off of her body and lean in. Her heart beats wildly and her breathing picks up. She must think that I'm going to rape her. But that's not what I want.

My fangs slide out. I lean in to the left side of her neck and bite down. Her blood is sweet and overflows, no doubt a side effect from the increased heartbeats due to her fear. Her body stiffens, unbelieving, and lets out a stifled cry of pain behind the gag.

I drink a little and start the stopwatch. I pull away from her and take it out, watching as time ticks by. I blink, and my vision turns blue. The two bodies are golden but I can visibly see the effect of my vampirism taking hold of the woman. There is a little spot of green against her gold body where I bit her.

Five seconds. The green has begun to branch out, dropping down towards the left side of her back, no doubt heading to the heart.

Twelve seconds. It spreads from the heart to the rest of the body. Her breathing is heavy and her heart still races.

Twenty two seconds. The green has spread to the rest of her body. She begins to crawl with her knees, pushing herself towards the man kneeling at the ledge. Her hands try to tug at the rope around her wrists. They slowly start to give away, not because the knot is being undone, but because the very fibers are beginning to snap.

Thirty seconds. Her crawling is faster now, becoming frantic. She keeps tugging at the bindings. It won't be long until she's free.

Thirty seven seconds. It snaps. Her hands now unleashed, she haphazardly pushes herself up and runs, giving a muffled roar and diving at the man. They fall over the ledge and the crunching of bone and flesh is heard. A small spray of blood permeates the air above the pit for a moment before disappearing.

Stop.

I wipe the blood off my lips with the back of my hand and softly lap it clean.

* * *

Heavy bass reverberates from the speakers on the painted black walls, with little white LED lights dotting the surface. Hanging from the ceiling are black lights and strobe lights. Mixed together with complimentary glow sticks for the visitors, they come together to create a sensation of outer space warfare with lasers. There is a circular bar in the center of the wide dance floor, serving beers, mixed drinks, and other quick snacks. An elevated stage at the back has a DJ playing and mixing records and songs for the patrons, who are looking for a wild night. Throughout the floor area are circular stages, slightly raised, with a metal pole and dancer on each. One of them has two dancers, entwined around the pole while kissing and teasing each other for a watching crowd of young men and women. The smell of alcohol, drugs, sweat, and sex infuses the air.

Welcome to a night at the Sagittarius. Taniguchi and I were given ownership of the club right before we moved out into the new city as birthday gifts. We manage costs and whatever profit is left at the end of the month we keep. With a little help from advisors, we run the music, we run the themes, we run the party.

But most importantly, we run and take care of the girls. With a few favors and pulling strings, we have the only club in the city where the dancers can be topless or full out naked if it gets to it. There are no loopholes to get around prostitution laws, but we use this place as a hookup zone for prospective customers. Because of this, we have no real competitors. Every night we open, it's packed. Party-goers line up starting as early as seven in the evening, hoping to get in. Many don't and go to the other clubs in the red-light district.

Of course, our drugs are also a huge attraction to the visitors, especially cocaine. We have members in the police force in high positions that can turn the force away from our illicit deals. We don't deal openly, but in a private room below the club. We don't sell directly to the druggies here, but to the ones who will sell it to them. But ever since we went fishing, we're in need of a new dealer.

It's hard finding good dealers. As the music thumps away above us, Taniguchi and I sift through profiles, looking at potential people we can promote to primary dealers. Each document contains their name, age, pictures, what they do, what makes them a good candidate, what makes them a bad candidate, and who their contacts are.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Taniguchi asks me.

"Nothing really. You?"

"Probably get a massage tonight. Been feeling a little stressed ever since we planned our fishing trip."

I was expecting him to say that. As we continue to look, an idea comes to mind. Pausing, I look up at him. "Hey, what if we choose to not fill the position?"

"...Well, if we were a normal company, we certainly lose sales. We would need as many people selling our products to ensure a steady income." He closes the file he's looking at and turns to me. "However, we're not exactly a normal company."

"Not to mention that we're selling drugs, here," I mention. "It naturally builds a loyal customer base for us. The issue is letting the people know that their dealer has changed."

"And whether the other dealers are okay with the increased workload. Granted, they'd make a lot more money, but they might be busy enough as it is already." He leans back in his chair and looks at the ceiling. "I'd have to get my dad's input over the issue. You might have to get in contact with the dealers themselves and ask." No doubt he's already lost in the idea of delving into the flesh of women.

Pushing distractions aside, we keep flipping. If our idea doesn't work out, we still need to find a good candidate.

* * *

I didn't get home until three in the morning. Taniguchi probably won't arrive at his house until the afternoon, instead staying at the hotel our clan owns. It doesn't bother me, however. While sleep is still needed, I've found that I need less as of recently. I don't know if it's me adapting towards my nightlife or my vampirism.

I find that it's a welcome change in my life, as not only do I need less sleep to function, I have more time in my day to get things done. Like homework.

There is a knock on the door of my room. "Kyon-kun!" It's my half-sister. "Time to eat!"

"I'll be down soon, then," I reassure her. Putting my books away into my bag, I take them with me as I leave the room. I probably won't be back until next week, earliest. Walking down the stairs, I place my bag at the entryway where the shoes are and move to the kitchen table, where the dishes and bowls of rice are already out.

My father and stepmother are already sitting at the far end of the table, where they always sit. My sister takes a seat opposite from them, looking at me with bright eyes and a smile. She fidgets a little, as if unable to contain her excitement from seeing me again. I sit down next to her and we begin to eat.

"How was the fishing trip?" my father asks.

Before I can even answer, my sister pipes up. "You went fishing?" She looks up from her food and turns to me.

I smile a little, "It was fun. Didn't catch anything, though."

My mother nods, eyes looking away, as my sister speaks up again. "Next time, can I come too?"

I give a short look at my dad. He doesn't say anything, just looks back down at his meal and resumes eating. I turn to my sister.

"Maybe when you're a little older. Fishing out in the ocean means you need strong arms to hold onto that rod if something bites. Wouldn't want you to be pulled out of the boat and into the sea, now would we?"

There have been accidents before.

"That won't happen!" she sticks her tongue out at me. "You and dad never catch anything anyway!" she says with a giggle.

I shrug my shoulders and rustle her hair a bit. "We'll see how things turn out."

* * *

Late night ride. We take one of the last departing trains back to our project city. I walk Taniguchi back to his apartment to make sure he gets there safely before heading back to mine. When I get home, I turn on my laptop and search for any new information on the officer death story.

It's the same thing over and over again, however. No new facts are appearing and police still have not disclosed how the policeman died. Police have a time frame on when the murder happened and what the male suspect was riding at the time because the officer radioed in what he was doing at the time, but everything else is fuzzy. There are fingerprints, but they can't identify the person because he is not on the record.

I leave the page and search other news sites, but they all say the same thing.

And as I had expected, no one has written about the disappearance of homeless people.

It's morning. Taniguchi and I are on our way to school, as usual. I drop by his apartment and walk with him. "You really should join in the fun one day. This one girl has the cutest squeal. I kind of want to hear what she sounds like when you and I have a go at her."

I feign interest. "Really now?"

"Yeah, and we got toys too, you know. In case you're into that kind of stuff."

"Are you?"

He turns his head a bit. "Ehh... dunno. I guess every now and then it's okay. But why would I stick in a toy when I can put my dick in, you know? It feels counter intuitive. What about you?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Well, I've never been with anyone so I don't really know how I feel over the matter."

"Hmph," he smiles again and looks down the road, "if you didn't express so much interest in that ribbons bitch, I'd assume you were a eunuch."

"And here you are, thinking you're a saint by inviting me to a threesome."

He gives off a scornful laugh and we continue to walk. The school gate comes in sight. Leaning against the front of it is Haruhi. As we get closer, she picks herself off the wall and starts coming towards me.

"Speak of the devil," Taniguchi says. He turns to me and winks, "Try to have some fun now, you hear?" and takes off to his class. He passes by Haruhi. She turns to look at him go by, but he pays her no mind. He still doesn't like her. She looks back towards me, wearing that annoyed frown on her face.

"So, have you made your decision?" I calmly ask.

"No. I need more information before I commit to anything." She turns on her heel and begins to walk to class, her hair twirling ever so slightly to the side and revealing just a bit of her neck to me. "I have questions for you and I want answers for them."

"Alright, what do you want to know?" I follow after her.

She whirls around and stares daggers at me. "Not here, idiot," she hisses, "After class. Rooftop. And this time don't be on the other side of the fence."

* * *

Last Monday was a holiday, so I did not know the class routine for it beforehand.

Today, it's a lot about history. The history of China, in particular. The teacher is talking about how the Great Wall of China was designed as a method to protect its borders while also being an important component in trade regulation. Now it's just a tourist site, however. Any real invading force would just blow up the damn wall.

Boring class. But the concept of history made me wonder. Being the unaging vampire I am, I would live until my body is destroyed in some way or another. Would I perish in fire? Drown in water? Or would I live until the end of days, where my identity cannot be hidden anymore and be captured, observed, dissected, and preserved as the first real vampire?

Having kids would probably be a bad idea. It would be a world of running. No real place to stay, no real friends. Lacking in childhood experiences.

Thankfully, the class ends. The lunch break went by with nothing in particular. Afternoon classes are uneventful as well, which means I have more time to think.

My mind turns to Kunikida. I should ask him what his father does tomorrow in gym class. The chances of him being the police chief is small, but if it pulls through, the information would be valuable. We could find out what the police station is looking into and what they're currently after. We could even use the child himself as blackmail, saying we know who his son is. I foresee him as a potential ally or bargaining chip.

* * *

Class ends. I hear Haruhi's chair scrape behind me as she gets up and quickly leaves the room. I know I'm supposed to be at the rooftop soon, but I don't want to follow her immediately. I would rather give each other some distance before making my way to the rooftop. While we were already the talk of the town and much of it has died down, I would rather not take the chance to piss off Haruhi.

I give her five minutes before making my way to the central stairs. I slowly go up a floor, but I pass by two familiar faces.

Tsuruya and Asahina Mikuru. They're on their way down to the bottom floor, no doubt getting ready to leave the school or heading towards clubs. Asahina trails a little behind the green-haired girl silently, who is talking about something.

Something about them bothers me though. Whether they knew it or not, both of them glanced towards me for the slightest moment, staring into my eyes before looking back down the path. Normally this is nothing too strange. I do it myself, after all.

What strikes me as odd is how they both looked at me at almost the same time, as if they were both looking for me. If this is the case then that means two things, if I bar coincidence. Either someone found out what happened on the rooftop or Haruhi knows those two through some network and they found out through it.

Someone is watching me. It might even be Haruhi herself.

Sounds hot.

I move past them and start heading towards the rooftop. My footsteps echo against the walls and I reach for the door.

"I had expected that you would be eager to follow me, you know." Haruhi stands in front of me, about ten feet from the door I went through. I let it close behind me.

"I figured you didn't want anyone to see me following you. A little personal space, you could say."

Her face has a scowl and her arms are crossed over her chest. She brushes aside my comment and begins to speak. "I gave your offer some thought."

"What do you think about it?"

"It blows. Most of it, at least."

"Well then, what don't you like about the offer? I'm sure we can negotiate a little."

"I hate just about everything in it. I am not in the mood to even entertain the thought of fucking you right now and-"

"Right now, sure, but would tomorrow work better for you?"

"…" she closes her eyes and takes a breath. Her lips stay pursed for a moment, biting back her scathing replies before speaking again. "The interesting part of the deal was the notion of a secure future. I know I'm not the brightest student around, but I know that exam scores impact your future. The deal is too good to be true. Be your fuck buddy and never have a care in the world again? That's bullshit."

She walks towards me. Then she goes by me towards the door, opens it, and looks in. Closing it, she walks behind the roof exit to make sure that no one else is around before coming back to me.

Her voice is quieter this time. "The only reason why I haven't fucking kicked your ass is because of your whole roof jumping habit. I did some research. No one merely jumps off the school roof and walks away. All the results I found were suicides or accidents. Even if they lived, they suffered broken bones. You laughed at death in the face. What are you?"

Psychologically, asking questions usually means someone is interested. "So, I take it that, for this one piece alone, you're interested in the bargain?"

"It's the most persuasive part of the deal." She crosses her arms again.

"Well, you can't just have that though. You have to buy the whole package." I walk up to her, staring into her golden eyes. Slowly, I raise my hand and begin to brush the hair away from the side of her face. She scowls at the contact, but doesn't shy or push me away. A soft blush creeps onto her cheeks.

So, so beautiful. "What do you say?"

My finger trails down her jawline, resting just a bit below her chin. I can hear her rapid heartbeat, and I'm mere inches away from her neck. I could just glide my fingers to the side and travel up and down, and it would be pure bliss.

Eventually, she turns away from me, unable to keep up with my gaze. I know she's contemplating, not sure of what she really wants.

She eventually looks back at me and starts to speak, "If I go down this path with you, what exactly are you guaranteeing?"

"A future with me. You won't have to worry about your next meal or clothes on your back." A half-truth. But she doesn't have to know the rest of it for now.

"And what's expected of me?"

My hand rises to gently cup her reddening cheek, my thumb resting just below her cheek bone. "Loyalty and unwavering faith. Sound good enough for you?" And a blowjob. That would be great because she owes me one.

"… You don't have to make it sound all nice and pretty, you know. You told me that your main motivation is to fuck me, after all."

"You need some better self-esteem, you know that?" I jest. "It might be easier for you to understand if I simply said that I want to fuck you senseless, but it wouldn't make you feel good about it."

"You're not denying it, though," her lips stretch into a smirk, gloating over the fact that she caught me.

"What is there to deny? I mean what I said." A good salesman never waits for the customer to actually say yes. Instead, he or she assumes the sale and gets ready to collect the check.

I lean in and softly kiss her lips. My body yearns for more, to dive my tongue into her mouth, to let my hands explore what belongs to me. But I pull back. Her expression is mixed between hate for me, self-loathing, but most importantly interest. And blushing.

I back away. "I trust negotiations are over?"

"… For now."

"Good enough." I flip my phone open, pull up the picture of Nagato showering in the locker room and hand her the phone. "For starters, I want you to tell me everything you know about this."

* * *

I should also add that I got a job now. This may or may not affect update speeds. Also I keep saying that I'm going to try to get back into Fire Emblem but I never seem to do so...


End file.
